


The Light In Me

by thedeviltohisangel



Category: American Horror Story: Apocalypse
Genre: F/M, vaguely based on hades and persephone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-08-08 05:48:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 36,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16423589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedeviltohisangel/pseuds/thedeviltohisangel
Summary: A series of the relationship between Michael Langdon and his ethereal wife, Penelope. Vaguely based on the Hades/Persephone myth.





	1. Heaven Knows I've Tried

She didn’t walk. She floated. He couldn’t help but watch her every move from his vantage point. Flowers sprouted where she was tenderly stroking the barren land, encouraging the seeds he had watched her plant yesterday to flourish. The world always seemed a little bit darker once she retreated back into the walls that hid her from his view. The birds would stop singing, the rabbits would hop back to wherever they came and the sun would tuck itself away for the night. He preferred it that way. He felt more at home in the cold darkness. 

The sunlight only appealed to him when it reflected the gold of her hair. The light exposed too much. He preferred to search the darkest corners of people, not have it given to him so easily. Where was the fun in that?

Carefully, he stepped out from behind the tree he had been using to remove himself from her view. She was laughing as a butterfly perched itself on her fingertip, too caught up in the beauty of it all to notice him approaching her. 

“Penelope?”

“Michael! You scared me! Sneaking up like that.” Meaninglessly she swatted at him, his hand catching her wrist effortlessly. His thumb pressed against her pulse as the pace drove quicker and quicker every second their eyes remained locked. 

“I’m sorry. I did not wish to interrupt you taking care of your garden.” He had been enjoying watching her, Penelope took care of her plants with a care he could never dream of ever possessing within. She took care of him in much the same way. 

“My borage plants were on the verge of wilting with how strong the sun has been these days. They required my full attention and you do seem to occupy most of it when you’re around, so thank you.” She smiled at him warmly as a cool breeze blew her hair across her face. His rings were cool against her arm as he traced his fingers up her skin to caress her face. 

“And you are the most ethereal distraction of them all,” he promised as his nose tipped hers so her chin would tilt a the perfect angle for his lips would fit over hers commandingly. Her own fingers curled into the lapel of his red velvet in an attempt to hold him ever closer and make sure he didn’t try to pull away from her. If only she knew how increasingly impossible it was becoming for Michael to leave her at all, let alone when he had her warm and forgiving in his arms.

“As much as I revel in your kisses I can sense a burden on your heart, my love. Let me share in it with you.” As if she could lift the weight off him herself, she placed her palm flat against his chest and he felt instantly lighter as she used her powers to drain away the anguish that had taken root inside of him.

“I have to leave the Sanctuary sooner than I had been anticipating.” She jumped back as though he had electrocuted her. The air around them grew colder, the clouds darker as her distaste for his statement took root in her powers and then was projected around them.

“You’re not just leaving the Sanctuary, you’re leaving me…” The first drop of rain fell as the tears did down her cheek. Michael rushed forward and pulled her into him.

“Enough of that. We had been having the loveliest weather before I made you upset.”

“You know I am still working on controlling the link,” she mumbled from where she had burrowed her face into his chest. “After Helena…” 

“I thought we had agreed not to speak of her.” Michael had agreed for the sake of Penelope’s mental health not to speak of the tiny creature that had been there one day and gone the next. He still had trouble calling her what she was. Their daughter.

“And we had also agreed you’d spend more time with me here before taking me back to the Outposts.” He had agreed to that for the sake of her health as well. Though she was happy just to be with him, even as they traversed the barren landscape of the new world he had created, she was happier amongst the sun and land where she had ample room to stretch her fingers to breathe life into the world around her.

“See how far we’ve come, darling? We compromise during our arguments now.” She laughed and the air felt lighter around them with the twinkling sound. 

“Let us strengthen our bond before your father before you go.” Penelope went to pull Michael back towards their home but he stayed rooted in place.

“Has he come to you?” If there was one thing Michael wished to keep a firm control over it was the interactions his wife and his father had. He hoped they would have as close to none as possible. She came back to him, his face going between her hands.

“I just want to make sure you are the strongest you can be for your journey. Do all I can to help since I am not to come with you.” Michael stepped even further into her embrace. 

“You lost so much blood, Penelope...You are not yet recovered enough for such an act.” Normally he loved watching her blood mix with his, her body writhing under his touch with candles lit around them and the power he felt coursing through his veins almost made him as hard as she did. Michael didn’t think he would ever feel as empty as he had the last time he watched Penelope bleed.

“That’s why you’re leaving the Sanctuary. You still feel guilt for my pain. For not being able to find her and bring her back.”

“I have never been good at ignoring the loudest thoughts and deepest emotions of those around me. Especially of those I care about,” he whispered. It wasn’t the first time that Penelope was able to sense the pain within him, the part of him that was human, the part he so desperately kept hidden from almost everyone.

“I forgive you, Michael.” She had spent countless nights alone in bed as her husband had descended into the land of the dead night after night in the hopes he would find someone who could help him find their daughter. 

“But I can’t forgive myself.” He pulled back in order to take her hand, bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss before tucking it into the crook of his elbow. “Let us enjoy one last evening together before my work starts back up again, shall we?” She nodded with a soft smile before following him towards their home. Penelope couldn’t help the sinking feeling in her heart that told her she couldn’t let Michael leave tomorrow. That something terrible would happen if they were to separate in such an unpredictable time. He was broken and had not interest in piecing himself back together, the power of pain a drug for which she had no antidote to give him. She watched as every flame they walked past grew with his presence and was left with a singular thought. That one day a darkness may consume him so powerful even she couldn’t light his way back home. Back to her. Were that day to come, she could only pray to the light she was strong enough to survive in a world without him.


	2. Brought Me Down

If there was one thing Penelope had always wanted it was a baby. Her desire to create a human life with a piece of herself had prioritized itself even above finding love. She had given life to so many creatures, maintained that life by nurturing them and caring for them until they reached full bloom when she could admire them in the sunshine. The gift of life was one she gave freely but never to herself. 

Penelope remembers the first time she had witnessed Michael descend into hell. It was his own way of giving the gift of life. Different from hers but the premise was there. She had been so certain that he wasn’t there anymore that she had knelt beside him and rested her ear against his chest, searching for a heartbeat. It was before she knew that Michael felt most alive among the dead. And when he startled back into the realm that they inhabited together, she looked at him differently. Until then she had been afraid of him. He stood for the opposite of what she practiced. Lived his life parallel to hers. But the flush in his cheeks, the spark in his eyes, the revived rhythm of his heart were all monikers of life. It was the first time she felt a connection to the man that had stolen her away.

He was reading files in bed,the early stages of the Sanctuary occupying more of his time than he had planned, as she held his hand in front of her, gently tracing over his fingers and memorizing the contours of his palm. As his talk of the impending end of the world ramped up Penelope found herself trying to memorize pieces of him in case they were separated. She would have the perfect image of him in her mind. And maybe, just maybe, she was strong enough now to bring him back the way he had her.

“Michael?” she clutched his hand against her chest as she rolled over slightly to face him. He hummed in acknowledgment of her call, not looking up from the piece of paper he was reading. “Have you ever thought about having a baby?” That earned her a quick glance. He didn’t say anything, simply looked at her with a surprised contemplation to his eyes.

“Why?” he asked slowly, drawing out the single syllable. 

“Because I have.” He wasn’t surprised by that in the slightest. The people he had tasked with monitoring her movements around the Sanctuary had reported to him with increasing frequency that his wife was spending her days in the Sanctuary’s nursery. They had suggested he go there with her one day to witness the joy she brought to the children. How not a single baby could take their eyes off of her when she was with them. How not a single child shed a single tear around her. It was like magic, they said.

“Is there where your new affinity for the nursery has come from? You’re feeling broody?”

“They are strongest, purest forms of light and life, Michael. They make me feel fulfilled. Make me feel whole,” she murmured as she was drawn back into his hand, bashful of admitting she had been less than fulfilled by him as of late.

“Well, then you are welcome to take any of the babies from the nursery that you feel an affinity towards.” He sat up and returned his full attention to the document he had been reading before she had questioned him.

“Michael.” Her voice was pleading. She was looking up at him with tears glistening in her eyes and he could feel the strain on her heart. The way she was choking on a lump in her throat. 

“I can’t give you what you’re asking, Penelope. I am sorry.” She stared up at him for a beat, hoping she had misheard and hoping he would take it back. His tone was stern as if he was trying to portray that he wouldn’t tolerate her asking him again. She held his gaze for a moment longer before she was raising herself from the bed, gathering the black, velvet cloak by the fire and searching her closet for her black slippers. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To wait out my last few weeks until your shield allows me to leave in the woods.” That caught his attention, Michael springing from the bed quicker than was human.

“Penelope…”

“It was part of our agreement. I was only required to stay here for six months at a time. I extended it but now you’ve lost the privilege to be near me.” He reached for her wrist as she went to exit their room.

“Penelope. If this is about the baby...I wish I could make you a mother but I can’t. I won’t put you in harms way. Carrying my child would kill you from the inside out and I can’t...I won’t have that. You are the one thing I cannot lose.” She saw the pain and sorrow within him, any feeling being with miles of them probably felt it radiating off of him.

“Then I will find a husband who can.” His fingers fell from where they wrapped around his wrist as the will to stand dissipated from Michael. His knees hit the floor as she descended the grand staircase towards the front door, not even sparing him a backwards glance as she slipped quietly into the night.

It was true that per their arrangement, every six months Penelope had the choice to stay with him or go. So far she had chosen to stay. There were a few weeks left on the spell that kept her trapped on the Sanctuary property and, for the first time, Michael was afraid she would slip through and leave once the time was up.

The sense of fear and rejection was beating over him like waves. He hadn’t felt so helpless and hopeless for many years, the feeling transporting himself to a house where he cradled the lifeless form of his grandmother. 

There was only one way for Michael to rectify the situation. To bring Penelope back into her arms where she was safe. He knew the woods around the Sanctuary were dangerous and that she was powerful enough to protect but her deference for life would prevent her from ending the threat. He walked to the closet, bending down to retrieve the mahogany box that was locked in the back. From it he removed a bejeweled dagger. He’d have to make a deal with his father to keep her safe during pregnancy and delivery. It was a matter of what his father would want in return that scared him. He always wanted something and Michael shivered at the thought of how his father with relish in the power he was so willing to give him in this moment. Love had made him more vulnerable than ever to bending to the will he had been born from and as he slipped the knife under his skin and up his arm he called to his father. The desperation that laced his tone made Michael sick himself. He knew that anyone watching would be appalled as his eyes glazed over black, his father opening his eyes to the realm he existed in.

_ “Father.” _

_ “You’ve come to me with a request, my child.” His father never wasted time with pleasantries. The black echo chamber around Michael was oddly comforting in how cold it was. _

_ “I’ve come to ask for the safety of Penelope.” _

_ “That little fairy of yours has you off tilt. I don’t like being made uneasy, Michael.” _

_ “She wishes to be a mother.” _

_ “And you came to me to fulfill her wish? Do you think me a genie?” _

_ “No, father. I am asking for you to protect her during the journey.” His laugh cackled and echoed throughout Michael’s whole body leaving a sharp pain in its wake. _

_ “I need another piece of her soul in order to grant you that.”  _

_ “No! You took the first and it almost killed her. A second would-” _

_ “Those are my terms, Michael. You send her to me.” _

Michael awoke from his ritual induced trance, numb. He had barely managed to save Penelope the last time she had descended into the realm of his father. She was made of pure light that was almost snuffed out. His father thought she would be the most prized item in his collection of souls. Another descent, another piece of her to appease him. That might kill her. 

He had almost caught his breath when he heard her scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a note that this story won't necessarily follow chronologically because i find it easier to write certain scenes as they inspire me. just didn't want confusion on anyones behalf


	3. Maybe When You're Far Away

Fire had always been Michael’s thing. He controlled it with such grace, kept it crackling in their room constantly, always warm and welcoming. Penelope thought that the reason Michael had been intrigued by her in the first place was that he couldn’t control her. He had tried. Oh, had he tried. But all he got in return was her twinkling laughter and the way she spun in her dresses when she was filled with joy.

She had found a little clearing, an owl had directed her to it, and in her attempt to make the fire change shapes the way she had seen Michael do before, she had burnt the edges of her cloak. It had startled her more than it should have, she admitted so to herself. Ever since Michael had brought her here not a single strand of her hair even found its way out of place. She prided herself in being a simple being, not needing more than necessary or asking for things she could retrieve on her own. Her mother raised her to be independent and it was a quality of hers she held most dear. 

As Penelope stomped out the flames she cursed herself for having become reliant on Michael. She would prove to him and to herself that she did not require his assistance in living a full life. The luxury he had provided her with could disintegrate when the bombs fell. She didn’t need him. She didn’t need the Sanctuary. And she certainly didn’t need the despair in the pit of her stomach that told her she actually did love Michael.

A flash of silver on the edge of the woods caught her attention and when she looked up she saw amber eyes looking back at her.

“Wolves,” she whispered to herself. When she was younger she had been scared of them. Had run and hid behind her mother’s legs when they approached her while she was out catching butterflies one day. It was then that her mother explained to her that the wolves were drawn to her the same way the butterflies were. “Come here.” Penelope turned her palm up and extended it towards the silver wolf that was slowly walking towards her. Behind followed three others. 

As the first one reached her, he nuzzled her palm before knocking his head against hers. “Yes. It is very nice to meet you too.” Penelope giggled with pure joy at the feeling of her powers surging within her. Any new connections with living creatures made the light within her flare with happiness. She was moving to introduce herself to the rest of the pack when Michael came barreling through the brush.

“Penelope!” She felt the power surge within him as he registered the wolves surrounding her, his eyes beginning to roll to the back of his head. Her hands pressed against both of his cheeks. Black fire ran through her veins as she fought to bring him back from the dark place he was going.

“No, Michael. They haven’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt them.” Her heart felt lighter as his blue eyes slowly returned themselves to her. After a brief moment, Michael realized the wolves were looking at him as though he was the threat.

“You can talk to wolves?” he asked breathlessly, feeling a bit faint. Between the blood he had drained to speak to his father and the power his wife had physically drained from him, he felt lightheaded.

“Sit down. You’re bleeding.” In his haste to respond to her screams he had rushed out into the forest, blood and all with no shirt to cover his wounds.

“How is it I still have so much to learn about you, my love?” Michael questioned  as she wrapped her cloak around him. 

“To be fair, I did spend the first bit of knowing you locked away in a separate room.” Penelope forgot that she was supposed to be mad at him. Livid. Disappointed. Betrayed. He always looked at her like she hung the stars in the sky and it was hard not to fall in love with him over and over again, every time he looked at her. 

“I have been hurt, abandoned. Stabbed in the heart. But I wouldn’t change a thing, Penelope Langdon, because it brought me to you. Even if you leave me...I’ll have known what real love feels like and I could never thank you enough.”

“Michael…” her voice quaked as she stroked her fingers across his face. She pushed her forehead against his lips to which he granted a kiss.

“I am not going to plead with you to stay. I...I forced you to come here against your will in the first place. I should’ve known better than to cage a free bird.” Penelope had never been good at doing nothing in the presence of a broken heart. She pulled him against her and kissed him as though the sheer force of her lips against his could heal him. Heal his past from the house that ruined him. Heal the pain he had felt when he discovered the burning corpse of Miss Mead. Heal the memories that haunted his sleep because no one had accepted him as just a man before Penelope had come along. He sat up straighter in order to push against her. Michael wished for every square inch of skin and lips to be opposite hers. Tears were streaming down his cheeks because his heart could not bear the weight of the love he was feeling, it was too strong. Too powerful. Too all-encompassing for him to even remember to breathe.

Michael grew frantic. A voice in the back of his mind was telling him to claim her. That if he didn’t do it now then she would leave and he would never experience of the high of being with her again. He detached his lips from hers, palming her face so he could expose her neck to his teeth.

“Michael…” she whimpered as he dragged his teeth up her tender skin. What followed was his tongue, softly lapping at the marks he had left. Flicking against her neck the way she liked between her legs. All of her disappointment towards him was evaporating with each involuntary rock of his hips against hers. Maybe she could learn to live without a child. Michael’s lover for her and her love him could be enough. How could she ever abandon a man that made her feel like she was flying? “Bind to me.” 

He stopped. His eyes open wide from where they have been half closed in a euphoric haze. Without meaning to he pushed her off of his lap where she had made herself at home and stood to try and get more distance between the two of them. 

“Who told you about that?” She looked up at him from her place on the ground where the wolves had come to stand around her, sensing that the peace between the two was no longer as palpable. 

“A voice in my head...It just...Just sprung on me. It felt like it was within me and calling out to you,” she explained as she looked anywhere but at him.

“Do you even know what that means? You would no longer have the choice to leave, Penelope. You would be tied to me in mind, body and soul. It is unbreakable.” He knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his. “Was it my father’s voice? He said for there to be a baby he would need another piece of your soul maybe this-”

“You went to your father about a baby?” A twinge hit her heart that Michael would willingly descend for her and her wishes. Speak to the man he held a complicated taste for.

“To see if there was anything he could do to prevent you from...I want to give you the world. I’d do anything to keep you happy. Even if it meant letting you go.”

“I’m willing...I’m willing to stay. To try. To make it work.” If she had to descend into Hell to see his father in order to be granted a baby she was at least willing to try. But she didn’t want to go down there, for a second time, feeling lost and untethered from the realm she called home. “I don’t want to go down there without being bound to you this time, Michael.” Nervously, she gripped his hand and looked into his eyes. He wiped gently where moisture was threatening to fall onto her cheeks. 

“Okay. Okay, we can do it tomorrow. After I’ve healed and you’ve warmed up.” She nodded gratefully before pressing her lips back against his. 

“I am sorry I ran out like I did. It was immature of me.” He shushed her gently by tapping his nose against hers.

“You have needs, Penelope. And I haven’t been meeting them. It is I who should be apologizing. You have been such a good wife and partner to me, the least I could be is the same.” 

“Pinky promise then? We will both work to be better, together and for each other?” He eyed her little finger that she had extended towards him with a smirk before linking it with his.

“Come, let’s head inside and see what the kitchen can do about a midnight snack.” Michael extended his hand to help her up, pulling her into his chest once she was up. They moved to head back towards their castle when a whimper made them stop. 

“They’d like to come,” Penelope said as she bent down to nuzzle the silver wolf as he approached her.

“We cannot take in four wolves as pets, Penelope.”

“Yes we can. They are not pets, they are protectors. I can name them after the Four Horsemen if that will more amenable to their presence?” He chuckled at her wit, pecking her forehead before he placed a guiding hand on the small of her back. 

“Our own pack,” he murmured as they all began the walk home. 

“Family,” she corrected gently as she admired how he was glowing in the light of the moon. 

“Yes. So let’s add to it.” Penelope couldn’t help the laugh that wiggled its way passed her lips, spinning in delight. Michael was following her towards her dreams and she was following him towards his destiny. Neither truly knew what awaited them at the end but Penelope could only believe that their love was strong enough to guide them through. Her heart had always been the most reliable of compasses and right now it pointed at Michael. So she followed it fearlessly.


	4. I'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: blood and cutting. also smut! this is the binding ceremony!

She studied herself in the mirror, attempting study every mark and fleck of hair in order to commit it to memory. Penelope didn’t know if she’d look different after she bound herself to Michael but she wanted to remember exactly how she looked before in case she did. In her worst nightmares she would become a white-faced demon the same she had seen Michael turn into on only one occasion. The thought alone made her shudder. The thought of losing the light that burned so brightly inside of her and had kept her warm those cold months before she learned to love Michael and the home he had built for them.

“You’re going to look just the same, my love.” She quickly shrugged her robe back over her shoulders and frantically tied it around her waist.

“How do you know? You’ve done this before?” The layer of hurt that was trying to inflict on him was perhaps as biting as Penelope would ever be capable. Michael frowned at the thought that she had been so quick to hide herself from him, that she thought he had ever felt this way about someone enough to bind himself to them.

“You know I never have, nor ever could, love someone the way I love you. Something deep within me calls out to you, Penelope, that is not something that you ever find more than once.” He stepped closer to her and cradled her face in his palms. “You understand that using the word love to describe how I feel about you is fruitless, don’t you? It cannot do the explosion in my chest when I see you the justice such strength deserves.” 

She visibly relaxed into his touch, her eyes fluttering closed at the warm calm his skin was radiating throughout her. “Forever is a long time for people like you and me,” she whispered as she bumped her nose against his. 

“I’m counting on it,” he replied before capturing her lips with his. Penelope met his tongue with her own, reveling in the feeling of serenity being in contact with him granted her.

“Don’t waste all your energy before the candles are even lit,” she teased as they pulled apart from each other with a final peck.

“My stamina is unmatched by any creature on this planet, you of all people should know that my dear wife.”  He leaned in to kiss her again when there was a scratching at the door. 

“The wolves need to be let out.” Michael groaned as Penelope left his embrace to go tend to the animals she had taken quite the liking to. In all honesty Michael could not really complain, the protective nature the wolves had taken towards his wife rivaled even his own and for that he was grateful, making sure to slip them extra scraps of meat at the table as a thank you. “It’s best if you get things started, yes? I will meet you in there.” She hated watching him cut himself and preferred he did that part before she joined him in the circle. 

Michael disrobed himself as he stepped into the room he had reserved in the castle specifically for his rituals. He had only ever drawn blood in order to talk to his father before but now he was doing it to become one with the only woman he would ever be capable of loving. He called to his father to allow His power to flow through his soul, to give him the strength to call to Penelope’s soul and bind the two together. Using a knife he cut into his arms until he felt surrounded by the power that his father had birthed into him, the power that his love for Penelope had awakened. The flames around him danced higher as the door opened and his wife stepped into the room. Their eyes stayed locked together for a moment before she was shedding her robe and stepping towards his outstretched hand tentatively. Once their skin touched a bolt of electricity shot through her and made an involuntary gasp escape from her mouth. 

“You feel it, don’t you my love? The power we have when we are together. How strong our love makes us.” 

“Yes,” she gasped as she pressed herself closer against him. He kissed her gently, comfortingly, before stepping back in order to hand her the knife. “You do it. I trust you.” Palms up, she extended her arms towards him in offering. 

His lips went first. Gentle kisses placed on her wrist then up her arm and it felt like he was blessing her skin before he broke it. Next came the knife, Michael stopping as Penelope quietly hissed, waiting for her to nod before he continued his path up her arm. As her blood began to drip onto the floor, where it began to mix with Michael’s, she felt a fire build inside of her. He dropped the knife outside of the circle the inhabited before approaching her with a hunger in his eyes she hadn’t quite seen before. His kiss was claiming. A man marking his territory, acting upon his most primal instinct. She met him in kind, threading her fingers in his hair and pulling him closer and closer to her. She wouldn’t be satisfied until they became one. 

He moved from her lips and traced kisses down her throat to her stomach until he was on his knees in front of her. He kissed her gently at her core, looking up at her as she looked down at him. She stroked his cheek gently as she tried to convey all her love in one look, one touch. She didn’t want him to ever think that she was cautious about devoting her life to him. For so long Michael had been abandoned, voluntarily or not, by the people who were supposed to love him. By the people he had put his love into. Penelope would never be another name for him to add to the list of betrayal. 

His tongue flicked at her clit and her knees trembled slightly. He tightened his grip on her thighs in order to steady her, the ecstasy of his bloody handprints on her skin not lost on him. He closed his eyes and gave into the intoxicating scent of her that surrounded him from this vantage point. His tongue worked her over and over, her moans louder than the sound of the blood pumping through his veins. As she got closer and closer to falling over the cliff that Michael was driving her towards he heard the distinct hissing of snakes as they formed from their blood. It meant his father was listening. Feeding off the darkness that Michael was emitting and in turn was seeping into Penelope.

She fell forward as she reached her climax, catching herself on Michael’s shoulders. He turned his head just enough to latch his lips around her wrist. They moaned in unison as he drank from her. “Lie down,” he whispered hotly. He was dizzy with the power of her blood and the ache between his legs. She did as he said, her hair fanning out underneath her head like a halo. Penelope was his angel. In so many ways Michael had, unintentionally and intentionally, tried to break her halo. Break her golden soul and get her to come to the side of him. Of his father. It hadn’t taken awhile for him to realize it but his strength was grounded in her light. The only reason she was able to love him, care for him as fiercely as she did was because of the goodness of her heart. 

Penelope felt her heart quicken as the flames around her intensified. Between the two of them was a beat only they could hear that kept them both in sync. She had felt it before, dull but there, ever since she had first kissed him all those moons ago. But now it was intoxicating. Her whole body pulsated to it, snakes seemed to be writhing to it, Michael seemed to be drunk on it. 

He bent over her and kissed her. It wasn’t as frantic or claiming as their previous ones had been. It was comforting like he was assuring her they were enter this next phase together. Her stomach butterflied at the thought of standing by his side through the end of the world. Nothing would be able to tear them apart. That was something she was sure of. His arms wrapped around her back and pulled up to his lap so they were facing chest to chest. “Are you ready?” he murmured against her lips. The beat was almost too loud for her to hear him. 

“Yes.” The hint of desperation to her tone, desperate for him to be inside her and make them one, spurred his hips forwards so he was sheathed inside her. She didn’t want to race and have this euphoria inside her end too soon so she kept her pace slow as she moved with him inside of her.

“Just like that,” Michael moaned, “You’re the only one who could ever make me feel this way.” As his encouragement washed over her she began to move faster. She wanted to make him feel good. More than good. Loved, cared for, accepted. Wanted. All of a sudden it was building up inside her. It felt different. It felt dark. She gripped onto his back in fear as it felt like something was taking over her body.

“Michael,” she whispered. His grip on her hips got tighter as he sensed her beginning to pull away.

“Stay with me, Penelope. You have to stay with me. I would never let anything hurt you.” She believed him but as the pressure that started by her navel worked it’s way to maximum capacity her soul felt like it was crying. As they both finished, Michael stilled, his eyes turning black. Penelope felt removed from her body, a piece of her detaching and watching her own eyes turn black. The piece of her screamed in agony as it caught in flames as her body whispered  _ Ave Satanas  _ in unison with Michael. Penelope had just gifted a piece of her soul to the devil. And He couldn’t be happier.


	5. In This Sweet Surrender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse into Penelope's pregnancy

The Cooperative had called an emergency meeting at the castle in order to discuss the progress being made toward The End Times. 

“My father does not wish for that to be the case, Bill. You are His loyal disciple. You will be rewarded ten fold of what He has already given you.” Michael sat at the head of the table, using his energy to keep everyone on track. They had a tight schedule to stick to and he did not want to be the one to face his father if they faltered from it. He stood slowly from his chair, ready to make his final push for action when there was a frantic maid that burst through the door.

“Master Langdon, I’m sorry for intruding I-”

“Speak, Charlotte.”

“Her eyes are black again.” There was no hesitation for Michael as he moved quickly from the room and hurried his way to the private floor he shared with his wife. The doors opened before he reached them, aiding him in his quest to get to Penelope and pull her back from the brink of darkness. 

Victory, the white wolf, sat outside the door to their room and whimpered as Michael approached. Penelope was covered in a cold sweat, sitting rigidly on the chaise by the fire with a white dress for a baby girl in her hands. Luna, her other handmaiden, was dabbing at her forehead with a warm washcloth. “How long has she been like this?” Michael shrugged his velvet jacket off and rounded the furniture to see where her normally gold flecked eyes were the color of the night sky.

“As soon as it happened, Charlotte and I tried the spell you taught us but it didn’t work. She went and fetched you immediately.”

“Go get a bucket.” Luna rose and hurriedly went to fetch the item he had requested. Michael gently pried the article of clothing his wife was holding and threw it into the basket of other clothes she had been folding in preparation for their daughter’s arrival. He knelt in front of her and telekinetically brought his knife into his hands. A pin prick of blood appeared on his thumb which he traced over her lips. “ _ Obsecro, mihi Pater ad se adducere. Revertere anima eius _ .” His blood on her lips returned the lively pink to them, spreading to her cheeks before reaching her eyes and returning the color he had fallen in love with at a marketplace in September. 

Luna returned with the bucket just in time for Penelope to jolt forward and empty the contents of her stomach into it, the flecks of blood a cause of concern for Michael. “What happened?” she moaned as Luna wiped her face with the cloth she had been using earlier and hurried off with the bucket to rid the room of the smell.

“You don’t remember?” Michael stood and helped her ease back against the pillows, sitting on the edge and stroking the hair away from her face.

“I was admiring the fire...Folding the clothes my mother had just sent…” she trailed off as the pain of remembering became evident on her face. He shushed her gently and placed a kiss to the wrinkle her furrowed brows were creating.

“I think the baby is making my father’s connection to you stronger. She is exploring in there and transported you to Hell as a side effect.” Michael’s hand went to her stomach which looked as though she was hiding a large bowl under her black gown. His fingers splayed over as much of the expanse as they could, the heat radiating from her stomach akin to his skin when he was first developing his powers back in that horrid house.

“Only a child of yours would be performing  _ decensum _ while they are still in the womb.” Penelope smiled at him gently as her hand came to rest on top of his. “I can’t wait until she is here. So I can talk to her the way you do.” She had only felt blips of attempted communication from the fledgling life that resided within her. Michael had a much easier time communicating with their daughter and both of them knew it had something to do with his father and the darkness they both shared but Michael had assured her the light of Penelope was in there too.

“She’s an impatient little thing. Can’t wait to have more room to stretch her legs.” She kicked as it to emphasize the point he had made. Michael looked up at his wife with pure joy glistening in his eyes, unaware the thing he had been so fearful of would make him happier than he could have ever imagined.

“I am sorry that my weakness interrupted your meeting once again. I keep trying to be strong to resist but the piece of me I gave up at the binding…” He helped her sit up so he could rest his forehead against hers.

“You are the furthest thing from weak, little lamb. You are nurturing a human life, yes? Our daughter requires much to grow and be strong and you are exceeding that need before she is even born. Only the strongest woman could be a mother to such a formidable creature. I love you and our daughter and nothing could ever cloud me from thinking you are both my top priority.” His lips pressed against her nose which had returned to its normal temperature.

“When did the tables turn to have you saving me?” she asked as she stroked her knuckles along his smooth cheek.

“I have lifetimes of making up to do for all you’ve done for me, Penelope.” He brought her hand to his mouth and placed a lingering kiss.

“Something is troubling you. I can feel it.” Michael looked away from her as her hand molded itself to his cheek. He had been keeping a wall up on his end of their bond in order to keep any distractions away from her while their child was growing within her. The energy he used to return her from darkness must have been just enough for the wall to crack.

“We are so close to me fulfilling my purpose. The bombs will soon drop. Our child will soon be with us. There is so much happening that I worry I am not giving myself fully to any one cause so they will all lack.” She traced her thumb from the crease between his eyebrows, down the bridge of his nose and over his lip. Michael felt some of the worry lift off of him as his wife physically pulled it away from his heavy heart.

“You have very broad shoulders, my husband, seeing as you can hold the weight of the world on them.”

“You and our child are my world, Penelope. My father’s plan...I feel it’s importance fading.” She drew his face towards her so her nose bumped against his. 

“You are stronger than the purpose He placed inside you, Michael. I sense the light in you. The love in you. He is only half of you.” He kissed her, wrapping his arms around her torso so he could hold her against him. Michael had never had someone believe in him as a man the way Penelope did. Contrary to the people who worshiped him, she despised the Antichrist part of him. She saw him for the golden haired boy desperate for someone to grab onto the light and help pull him to safety. And she was pulling with all her might, even if it meant losing pieces of herself in the process. 

There was a reason Michael whispered praises for her as his angel when she fell asleep a night. She was his savior. And she was hellbent on pulling him back from the cliff his father was trying to push him over.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know any scenes or moments you'd like to see explored more between these two !


	6. Isn't It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The birth of Michael & Penelope's daughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings for blood and any pain associated with birthing the antichrist's child

Penelope woke up that morning knowing that it was the day she was to become a mother. She didn’t tell Michael, content that she knew something about the baby before he did for the first time. Instead, she waited patiently for him wake up. His first act every morning was to wait for her to roll over from where her back was nestled against his chest and kiss her.

“Our daughter is making it more and more difficult for you to get close to me,” he said motioning to her protruding stomach that had been acting as a natural barrier to the skin to skin contact Michael so desperately craved in his life.

“I’m sure this is something you’ll have to get used to, even after she is born,” Penelope hummed as he ignored her words and began to nip at her neck. “My love, you promised me that you would accompany me to the market the Cooperative organized today.” Morning sex with Michael never actually occupied just her morning. He always took his time, moving languidly and without a distinct purpose outside of an attempt to reciprocate the love his wife bestowed upon him.

“And you know I could never break a promise to you,” he sighed as he removed himself from the safety of the crook of her neck. She kissed his nose with delight before extending her arms towards the ceiling.

“I do, however, require your assistance in getting up.”

 

Michael had to keep a tight grip on her arm where it was looped through his as his wife kept getting distracted by every fruit, vegetable and knit blanket that they passed by. He had told her that the Cooperative was encouraging the beginning members of the Sanctuary to produce and sell their goods in an attempt to make it feel like it’s own little village and to have them all be productive members of their new society. Truthfully, Michael had been angered by the tears forming in his wife’s eyes a few weeks ago as she recounted how much she missed the weekly markets where she had grown up and he decided he would organize one here for her, every stall catered to her likes. She looked confused every time someone refused her payment for an item, Michael hurrying her along before she could ask too many questions. 

Luna and Charlotte had collected all her belongings and brought them by the fire for her to sort through after dinner with Michael. Penelope had spent the entire meal covering her winces from the contractions which were moving closer and closer together. As Michael sat down to try and whittle down the pile of blankets she had bought, she looked down at him with a smile.

“What is it?” he asked.

“You’re daughter is ready to meet you,” she replied with a smile so wide she was afraid her face would split from the effort.

“I’m sorry?” Michael asked as he stood. He thought, maybe erroneously, that women were in more prolonged pain before their child came. He had time to think about his daughter being born, yes, but in no way was he actually prepared for it to happen. Penelope was born to give life to others, she was the definition of a natural when it came to caregiving and nurturing. Michael had been born to decimate the earth. He was not built to be a father and he was just now coming to that realization. “I’m not ready,” he whispered. His wife regarded him with a warm expression.

“She is, Michael. The rest of our lives will revolve around hers. Now is as good a time as any to prepare yourself for that.” She calmly brought his hand to rest on top of hers over the bump that held their little girl. “Help me bring her into the world. Into our arms.”

 

He moved quickly after that. Penelope had been adamant against a birth plan, promising him, her handmaidens and the doctors, that Michael had recruited to the Sanctuary after she became pregnant, that she would know what was right for her and her baby when the time came and not a moment before then. 

Michael helped her change out of her black velvet gown and into a loose, gauzy nightgown before helping her down onto their bed. “She feels the love that has been expressed here. More love than anywhere else in the castle. There is safety here,” Penelope explained as Michael took to fluffing pillows behind her quite like a frantic mother hen.

“She has chosen now to talk to you?” Michael questioned as he kneeled next to her side of the bed. His wife nodded enthusiastically, tears shining in her eyes.

“I can hear her so clearly, Michael. Our voices and my heartbeat have brought her so much comfort. I can feel the ache in her chest to meet us. To know what your heartbeat sounds like. She wonders if it is just as comforting as your words.” A watery laugh escaped his lips as, he too, felt the joy emanating from his child, from his wife.

“She will be so loved,” Michael said as Penelope brushed the tears away from his face. Michael couldn’t help but think of his own childhood. How he went years without ever feeling like someone wanted him. Cared for him. Loved him. He had missed out on knowing a mother’s love, on knowing a father’s guiding hand. It angered him more so now that he knew how easily he had fallen in love with his daughter. With even the idea of her. How right it had felt to do so. Michael had vowed over and over again, and he did it one last time as the doctors entered their room, that his child would never go without knowing she was wanted, cared for and loved.

He stood quickly, Penelope tightening her grip on his hand. “I’m not going anywhere. Promise.” Their grip stayed tight as he moved towards where the doctors were looking between her legs in order to assess how far along in the process her body already was. “How does she look?” he asked.

“Everything seems to be moving along nicely,” the doctor muttered before signalling to Penelope that she could close her legs again. 

“Do not lie to me, Doctor. We are talking about the life of my wife and my child. I do not take those things lightly and will not tolerate anything except your complete candor.” Penelope felt his hand slip from hers as he stepped forward. The air in the room got colder as she felt something shift inside of him.

“Michael,” she called in warning. Even if something was wrong, she didn’t want to know. This was going to be the happiest day of her life, now matter what state she was in when it was over. She didn’t want his lack of control when it came to matters of her to threaten the peace and joy and serenity that had encompassed her only moments before. 

It was when Luna and Charlotte both walked in with baskets of towels that Michael felt something stir within the darkest parts of him.

“My father assured me nothing would happen to Penelope during the birth of our child.”

“That doesn’t mean, Master Langdon, that something won’t come close to happening,” the doctor warned. 

“They are following my wishes, Michael. Please. Let us be happy while we can.” He turned on his wife with the look of a man who had been blindsided. 

“Have you seen your death or...or our child’s death and not told me?” It was then the first pool of blood began to form between her legs.

“I have seen pain, Michael. Anguish. My mother showed me in the hopes that I would be able to prepare myself. Prepare you. You...You were so happy to have her. To have a baby to raise differently from you. I couldn’t bear to ruin that for you.” A scream tore through her body, her bones cracking as her back arched off the bed in agony. Michael felt his own body scream in response, the bond allowing him to feel just enough of the pain she was to hurt. It urged him to figure out a way to make it stop. To protect his mate. The mother of his child.

The blood soaked through their sheets and began to drip down the side of the bed. He looked away from it, from where the doctors were poking and prodding at her, urging the baby to come quicker. 

Michael centered himself amongst the madness and dropped next to his wife who was shaking in the effort it was taking to bring their child into the world. The masterpiece they had created out of the pure love that was shared between them.

“I’m going to make it stop,” Michael said to her. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. “ _ Transferam me ad dolorem eius _ .” He repeated the incantation to transfer some of her pain over and over again, his own hand clenching around hers as it ripped through him. Gasps came out of him as he felt as though he might pass out from the strain it was putting on his powers. Their bond.

“Get her out, Michael, please.” He knew if he let go of her hand then all the pain he had taken in order to share in the burden with her would transfer back to be hers alone. “I can handle it. Please, Michael. Our daughter is here and needs her father.” He let go of her hand and attempted to block out the bloodcurdling scream that broke his heart as he dragged himself through the puddle of his wife’s blood to where the doctors were preparing for his daughter to fully enter the world.

He placed a trembling kiss to Penelope’s knee as he took the place of the doctor’s and caught his daughter’s head as she slipped out into his waiting hands.

She wailed as the cold skin hit her fresh skin, the world she was born into nothing like the cozy nest her mother had provided her with for the past nine months. 

Quickly, Michael wrapped her in one of the towel and brought her next to Penelope’s head where her eyes were struggling to stay open. 

Their daughter’s cries immediately stopped as her eyes found her mothers. She blinked up at her with such curiosity, Michael able to feel the strength of the bond that already existed between them.

“Helena, my daughter,” Penelope spoke weakly as her finger traced over her tiny nose. The name they had decided on meant light. She was the light of both their lives. “I feel complete.”

“She’s so perfect,” Michael cooed, “You did so good, my love. You have made me the happiest man on earth and otherwise.” 

“I am too weak to hold her, Michael. Do what you need to do so I can be healed. Be strong again.” Michael handed off the baby to Charlotte, the child screeching as soon as her mother was out of her sight. He could almost hear his wife’s heart breaking over the sounds of her child needing her. 

“ _ Ut dormiam. Sana. Virtutem. _ ” And while she held onto Michael’s hand, everything went black.

 

When her eyes opened, there was more light in their room. The smell of blood and sweat was gone. Penelope looked down and saw that her nightgown had been changed and someone had done a meticulous job of grooming her while she was in a deep sleep induced by Michael. Her nails had been buffed, her hair felt like silk and her skin smelled of lavender.

“Look, my little one, look who is awake.” Penelope turned to the side to see her husband cradling a small bundle of cream linen and knit blankets.

“Let me look at her,” Penelope called as she sat up straighter in bed. Michael moved towards his wife and carefully transferred their daughter into her arms, his wife murmuring to their daughter how she was her sweet, sweet angel. Her arms molded around Helena like they had been built for her tiny body specifically. Michael thinks, maybe in a way, they had. She held her to her chest and placed the softest of kisses across her wrinkled forehead and gently rubbed their noses together. “How long was I asleep for?” she inquired.

“A few days. I made sure Luna and Charlotte kept you as groomed and bathed as possible so you would feel like yourself when you woke up.” He had missed her while she slept, Michael putting her into a deep sleep so she could focus on healing herself instead of fussing over Helena. Penelope had become his life partner in so many different ways, he depended on her to keep him sane. Keep him happy. Keep him preoccupied when he felt the darkness was becoming too much. For so long it had just been the two of them, Michael selfishly hiding her away and the past days without her had made him feel like a fish out of water. He so badly wanted to kiss her and love her and show her how much he had anguished over losing his life partner while she had been healing but watching her dote over their daughter was enough of a reward for him. 

“How has she been? Eating properly? Sleeping well? Did the wolves get a chance to meet her? Who  _ has  _ met her?” Penelope was so full of questions. She felt as though she had missed a lifetime from being asleep that long. 

“Helena is a perfect angel, quite like her mother. I can still hear her thoughts. She has wondered when she would get to see you again. Something about the way you smelled comforted her...She gets hungry at the same time every night, goes to the bathroom at the same time every night and if she is awoken near an open window she is always too enthralled by the stars to ever go back to sleep. The wolves have sniffed her and nuzzled her and have accepted her, I can promise you that. No one has met her, my love, besides those that helped deliver her. She is ours to enjoy and ours alone.” She nodded along to all the answers he gave her but her eyes had stayed locked with her daughters, her fingers stroking her pillow soft cheeks. It was then Helena’s face scrunched up, the beginning of a wail upon them. “She is most likely hungry now. Are you feeling up to feeding her?” Once his wife nodded enthusiastically, Michael took Helena into his arms so Penelope could pull one arm out of her gown to give her daughter access to her milk.

Helena latched on without a moment of hesitation, the smell of her mother and sustenance too enticing to think about twice. Michael walked around the bed and climbed onto his side so he could be closer to his family. He smiled fondly where his daughter’s hand wrapped around his wife’s finger and was resting against her chest, Helena’s eyes looking up at her in wonder as she ate.

“I cannot believe she is here. My whole life…” She didn’t need to finish her sentence for Michael to understand. The sense of fulfillment was one he too had felt before in his life. But the sense of fulfillment he got when he sat in the rocking chair with his daughter at night was nothing compared to the one he had gotten along each step of completing his father’s mission.

“The three of us, together, forever. That is all that matters to me. Nothing will ever come between us. Nothing will ever take you two away from me.” Penelope gently leaned her head towards him, Michael getting the kiss he had been craving ever since the last one she had given him.

“Our family,” she replied. And Michael couldn’t have been happier to have finally found his.


	7. Heaven Can't Help Me Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The disappearance of Michael & Penelope's daughter, Helena.

It was the sound of a wolf howling that woke them up. The sun had just risen and Penelope was contentedly wrapped up in Michael in a way that neither knew which leg or arm belonged to who. It was warm and peaceful and everything that they had always wished it would be. The only thing missing was the little princess that was the source of the giggles coming from down the hall.

“Good morning, my love,” Michael whispered against her ear as they roused from sleep simultaneously.

“Hi, my darling husband,” she murmured back as she turned to place a kiss to his nose.

“Our daughter is talking to the wolves again,” he muttered as another howl sounded around the corridor.

“One of us better go get her before she wakes the entire Sanctuary.” Helena had done that before. Her constant curiosity had led her to transmutate into the forest on the outskirts of the town, riding back in with a bear much to the bewilderment of her parents and the scared townspeople.

“I’ll go. See if I can’t start the process of some breakfast along the way.” He leaned in for another long kiss, savoring every moment of alone time he got with his wife now that it had been lessened. They found intimacy in new ways. It wasn’t as much about the day long sessions of sweaty, fiery fucking anymore but in kisses and touches and words of love and commitment. They had found their time with their daughter, and nurturing the life they had created together, to be more rewarding than any sexual encounter could be. 

Michael untangled himself from the cocoon his wife had trapped him in and threw on a loose tunic before heading out the door to go and fetch his daughter from her nursery.

The castle was bustling as he made his way down the hallway, staff tending to the fires and the smell of bacon and french toast reaching his nose from the kitchen. They all had a sense of when the Langdon family awoke and that meant preparations were to be made for the day to begin and run smoothly. For so long it had just been Michael, only a few people assisting him around the structure and everything tailored to his mundane, dark tastes. When Penelope came he was forced to recruit more people for his household and found it easier than he had originally thought to accept the accents of his wife that then decorated his surroundings. Flowers populated most surfaces, herbs hung from the ceilings in random places and every day there seemed to be a new animal she had adopted as her own. And now there was Helena. Michael was still learning the personality of his daughter though she definitely did have one. She was warm and cuddly around him, always trying to put his hair in her mouth and in his eyes, she could do no wrong. She was his perfect little angel who had unwittingly completed all Seven Wonders before her first birthday completely by accident. She required a watchful eye.

He opened the door to her nursery and was met with her curls going in every direction. Her bottom was plopped in her crib, her hand reaching through the bars in an attempt to pet the wolf that stood dutifully by her side. Michael had tasked two of them with following Penelope everywhere she went and the other two with guarding Helena. Her eyes were wide as they settled on him before she broken into a grin. Her chubby, little hands came together in a delightful clapping motion at the idea that Papa was here. That meant it was time to start her day and that meant Mother and that meant playing and adventure.

“What do we have here?” Michael hummed as he stepped towards the crib. Instinctively, Helena lifted her arms up in the hopes her father would pick her up and snuggle her against his chest. In the hopes he would rescue her from this room that didn’t hold nearly as many possibilities as the rest of the castle did. “You look like you slept well, little miss.” Her cheeks had indents from the seams of her favorite blanket, her porcelain skin warm from how cozy she had been in her crib. Michael had thought she would be as warm as he had been when he was coming into his own but had been delighted to find that her body temperature was closer to that of her mother’s. His daughter had also inherited her mother’s everlasting desire to be cozy, taking a liking to her fleece onesies as opposed to the cotton ones that had been offered to her. 

She cooed as he pressed kisses to her silk cheeks and he even got a giggle out of her as he rubbed their noses together. “Shall we go see Mama?” She perked at the word. Helena hadn’t taken to speaking yet but she showed reactions to their names and even that slight thing put Michael over the moon. This little being was so excited to be around him and showed him her love in whatever capacity she was capable of. For someone who had felt so empty for so long it could be overwhelming at times to think about the unconditional love his wife and daughter shared with him.

It was difficult to contain his daughter in his grasp once they reached his and Penelope’s room, the little girl anxious to reach her mother. His wife came to meet him at the edge of the bed, taking their daughter into her own arms. Her hands smoothed over the curls Michael had gifted Helena and kissed every inch of her face much to the amusement of their daughter as she squealed with delight.

“You look like you had a good sleep, my love.” Penelope sat back down on her half of the bed, Michael sliding in next to her. These were his favorite moments. He no longer felt as though his life was one big rush towards someone else’s goal. If he could spend eternity wrapped in this envelope of warmth with Penelope and Helena he would, no matter the cost. 

He watched intently as she sat on his wife’s lap, trying to pull the front of her nightgown into her mouth. “Anything out of place in her room this time?” Penelope asked though her eyes never left her daughter.

“Not that I noticed on a a quick glance.” Mere days ago Michael had entered Helena’s room to find her rocking chair was missing and so was her basket of stuffed animals that was kept by her crib. His first thought was that Luna or Charlotte had taken them to be cleaned and when he inquired about it he had been correct. But it was because they had discovered blood on them when they were tidying her room that morning. It was still a mystery as to who or what the blood belonged.

“She is so good with animals and the flowers yet…” His wife had taken it harder than anyone that darkness resided inside their blessing. Penelope had been certain that she would be able to love Helena enough to help the light prevail the way abandonment had allowed for Michael’s darkness to do so. While she had been in denial and promised him up and down she would figure out a way to get it out of her, Michael had decided the better option would be to teach his daughter not to not let the darkness consume her. How to control it and keep it bay.

“She will be okay. She is the most powerful being on this earth, there is bound to be happenings we cannot explain nor control.” 

“I feel such pain, Michael, when I see the way your soul is torn in two. I don’t know that I could ever bear seeing that within her.” Penelope cupped the back of her daughters head and pulled her against her chest as if holding their daughter close would prevent any bad thing from happening to her. 

“I will not let her feel the pain I have felt. You know that all my power and energy is devoted to keep our world at peace.” The bombs had not yet dropped though that action was always one word away from Michael. Part of him had begun to wonder if there was a way around razing everything to the ground. It had occurred to him, just last week, while he watched Penelope and Helena sit together under a tree that his daughter would only have finite places to play and explore if he succeeded in his father’s mission. She could not yet walk but already he was taking away her space to grow.  His father wanted him to destroy the world but maybe there was a way for Michael to preserve his own. He was snapped from his own thoughts as a squawk came from his daughter, her hands flailing out towards him.

“Say, ‘Papa. I’m hungry.’” Helena looked back at her mother with pride at having gotten her father’s attention. 

“It’s very difficult to have two beautiful girls constantly in demand of my time and attention,” Michael scoffed playfully as he rose from bed and reached to take the little ball of energy with him. Penelope rolled her eyes right back.

“I’m sure it is, Daddy.” His eyes darkened though he knew she hadn’t meant it in that way necessarily. 

“Say that again, angel.” His voice had dropped an octave as he stepped closer to her. She felt her own body react in kind to the lust he was presenting to her.

“Daddy.” Michael couldn’t help the small growl that escaped his mouth as he captured his wife’s lips in a bruising, claiming kiss. They had made love since the birth of their daughter, their physical bond his second most prized possession, but her wild side had not yet come out to play again. He could have stayed like that forever but a little hand smacking against their joined lips caused him to pull away from Penelope sooner than he would have liked. 

“You want kisses too, my pumpkin?” He pressed a kiss to both of Helena’s cheeks, nose and forehead. Penelope giggled at how her daughter craved her father’s attention and it almost brought her to tears every time she witnessed their bond. Michael had been so nervous for so long that he would be unable to connect to or love his child because it was so far from his own childhood experience. Nothing could make her happier than seeing her husband and daughter flourish right in front of her eyes. 

They made their way down the spiral staircase as a unit, breakfast being placed on the table as they stepped onto the floor.  Helena sat at the head so she could interact with both of her parents and it also provided her with the best view of her surroundings. If she couldn’t see everything, then she would let you know the current arrangements were unsuitable. Michael fed her first, spoonfuls of mashed banana being welcomed greedily by the hungry baby. 

“What are you two planning on getting up to today?” Michael hated that he had to work and couldn’t spend every moment making memories with his family, but duty called and if he couldn’t be with his daughter then he at least wanted to make his time away from her exceedingly productive.

“I believe the beehives are ready to have honey collected from them. It’ll be a good chance for me to observe her abilities in action more.” Much of the Sanctuary operated on an agrarian basis as they prepared themselves for intermittent electricity and other goods of a modern, material nature. Penelope’s affinity for plants and animals had spurred on production far beyond the Cooperative’s expectations. When Michael had to work, she took Helena with her and had been mesmerized by the liking her daughter had also taken to things of the natural world. Just the other day she had turned rose petals into butterflies, her elation at the little creatures making all those around her smile with pure joy.

“Well that sounds like a fruitful excursion. I, unfortunately, will be having my final rations meeting with the heads of the Outposts today. I would visit you two at the hives but…” Penelope reached across the table to rub her thumb over his knuckles.

“Do not worry, my love. We will see you at dinner. You will make up for all your time away working once your plan has been put into action.” She still held onto the hope that she could do something to halt the progression of the end of the world but if it meant Michael could finally feel unburdened, then maybe she could tackle the darkness within him after the fact. 

“I hate to cut our meal short but I do have places to be.” He stood and made his way around the table, squatting so he was at equal height with his wife. “I love you and I will miss you with everything I have until I see you again.” She couldn’t stop herself from blushing, though Michael did bid farewell to her in this manner most days, and she leaned forward to peck his lips a few times in succession. 

“My heart already yearns for your presence,” she replied back. He smiled, kissing her forehead as she stood and turned to say goodbye to Helena.

“Behave for your mother today, my little bumblebee. I love you very much and will see you as soon as I possibly can.” Michael doesn’t know if she could grasp the nature of his words nor that his heart was truly empty when the two were not with him but her smile and the way she hit her hands against his cheeks in joy was enough for him to feel Helena loved him back. He placed a gentle kiss to the palm of her hand before forcing himself to leave. 

“Come, peanut, let's get you cleaned up and ready for our day!” 

 

Penelope breathed deeply as she pushed Helena’s stroller towards the beehives of the Sanctuary. She was babbling mindlessly in her carriage-like stroller, a stuffed elephant in one hand and her other waving at the people they walked passed.

Michael had set up the Langdon family to be the royalty of the Sanctuary, everyone looking at Penelope as Queen and Helena as Princess. They didn’t know the strictness with which Michael had instructed the populace to treat them nor the threats he had outlined should they be treated with anything less than the utmost respect. Victory, Armie, Desire and Finn trotted alongside them dutifully as did Luna and Charlotte a few paces behind.

As they reached the bees and their keepers, Helena’s attention immediately turned to the buzzing. She could sense life and activity very easily. It enthralled her to be introduced to a new creature. “Let’s go look closer, my love, shall we?” Penelope scooped her into her arms, the elephant coming with her, and held her close so her little face was protected from the usn by the brim of her mother’s hat. 

“Madame Langdon, Miss Langdon. It’s an honor to have you with us today.” The keepers bowed as the pair approached them.

“We are very happy to be here. Helena has not yet had a chance to meet the bees, she is very excited.” Her round, blue eyes couldn’t focus on one point in particular, flitting between the men, the bees and the hives.

“If you are ready, shall we begin?” Penelope stepped forward and placed her hand on top of one of the boxes that held some bees and their honey.

“Watch, my little princess.” Penelope closed her eyes and the bees began to exit the hive, forming in a group a few feet away. It allowed the keepers to go in and extract the honey without the need for smoke or scaring the insects. She held her hand there until the keepers signalled they were done and then she flexed her wrist and they quietly flew back into their home.

“Magnificent, Madame Langdon,” one of the men said with a genuine smile. “Shall we continue?” 

They continued the process for the rest of the hives and as they got to the last one she asked if they would be alright if she tried to teach Helena how to do it. It wasn’t as if they could say no, particularly if they wanted to keep their lives. She didn’t miss the look of skepticism on their faces at the thought of the little baby being able to be taught such an act but they watched intently, regardless.

Penelope did the process up until the bees were ready to go back into the hive. “Okay, little munchkin, just like you saw Mama do.” Her and Michael had been trying to teach Helena about her magic as though she was the age of someone with her abilities might be. Their fear was that if they waited too long something could corrupt her in their hesitation. It was better for her, and them, to learn about her powers as early and often as possible.

She used her larger hand to guide her daughter’s chubbier one in the direction of the group of bees and watched as Helena spread out her fingers and held the bees there after Penelope let them go. “Good job, princess!” Her connection to living creatures was so natural that she had been able to dial into their energy as though it was second nature. Helena let out a little giggle in delight and Penelope was too busy admiring her creation to notice the sky getting darker and the wind picking up around them.

“Madame Langdon…” Penelope looked around her. The change in weather wasn’t her doing and she couldn’t sense Michael’s magic being used.

“Helena…” Penelope whispered as she noticed the little girl wasn’t blinking. Her cheeks were shivering with the effort she was exerting. “My sweet girl...Let go.” She reached to grab her outstretched hand but it was too late. Her daughter flung her arm towards the keepers, the bees sinking their stingers into their skin on impact. Their screams seemed to startle the little girl out of her reverie. Penelope wasted no time in flicking her wrist to disperse the bees and tucking Helena into her chest and taking off in a sprint. She told Luna and Charlotte to make sure the men got the medical attention they needed, the wolves pacing themselves alongside her.

Her own tears were fogging her version as she reached out for Michael through their bond and begged from him to come find her. Helena’s cries were ripping her apart more than her own were, both of them scared of the event that had just transpired.

Penelope burst through the castle doors and right into her husband’s chest who’s arms reflexively righted her before she could fall from the impact. “Oh, Michael, something horrible has happened.” He had felt the sense of despair in his wife deep in his soul. The bond he shared with both her and their daughter alerting him that something was terribly, terribly wrong even before Penelope had called to him for help.

“Let’s find somewhere to sit, yes?” He shushed gently as he lifted Helena from his wife and began to bounce her in his arms. “What’s got you and Mommy so upset, lovebug?” Michael was trying to be the calm one. The two of them seemed to be in hysterics and he knew the situation would not be helped if he too joined in.

She relayed the story of the incident as best she could without having to imagine it over again. Michael remained stoic the entire time, Helena having been calmed by fiddling with the rings on his fingers.

“I have only felt darkness like that once before, Michael, when I went to your childhood home.” He shivered at the mention of that house. “I’m afraid your father is asserting his claim to her soul.” His lips trembled as he placed a kiss to his daughter’s forehead, more for his comfort than hers, at the thought of his precious girl being a battleground for forces beyond his control.

“Then we take her away from here. We go somewhere she can grow and learn without other people potentially being put in harm’s way.”

“If your father wants her, Michael, He will find a way to have her no matter where we go.” A sense of dread began to swm within Michael. He couldn’t help but feel like the darkness of his daughter and the shaking in his wife’s hands were all his fault. This was why it was too dangerous for anyone to love him. Why they had all never loved him in the first place. All her brought to those around him was pain.

 

That night, Michael couldn’t sleep. He lay on his back with his arm loosely holding a sleeping Penelope who had her head rested over his heart. After what felt like hours of listening to her soft breaths and staring into the depths of the ceiling, Michael gently moved from under her body and kissed her forehead while he padded out of their room and down the hall. 

Helena lay peacefully in the middle of her crib, Armie perking his head at Michael entering the room. Lightly, he stepped towards her and knelt by the side of her bed. His hand shook as he placed it gently on her tummy and the tears began to flow freely down his cheeks. 

“My sweet girl. I am so sorry my blood has cursed you. It is all my fault you feel this pain. I would do anything to take it from you, princess. One day I hope you can forgive me for the ache in your soul I unwittingly put there.” He watched her quietly for a few moments, wondering if her dreams were peaceful and he hoped they were.

“Michael?” He looked to the doorway to see Penelope had made her way to the room as well. His hand came to wipe under his eyes in the hopes his wife hadn’t seen but the softness around her eyes made him think that she had. “Please do not blame yourself. It is not your fault. She is a little girl, there is still time to teach her.” Michael stood and walked over to her and wrapped her up in his arms. 

“I’m sorry to you too, Penelope. If I had never taken you that day...You could be living a much more peaceful life somewhere far away from me and the destruction I leave in my wake.” It wasn’t the first time that Michael had let the aching thought that he had ruined Penelope’s life by claiming her as his own. No matter how much he truly loved her.

“You are the other half of me, Michael, and you have given me the most blessed gift I could have ever asked for in our little Helena. This is just a rock in our path. It can be moved.” Each of her hands landed on Michael’s face and she pulled him so his forehead rested against hers. 

“I don’t deserve you or her,” he whispered as he closed his eyes and accepted the love she was sending him through their bond.

“Come to bed and I will show you-” They both felt it. The stabbing hot pain in their chest. Penelope choked on the air around her as she looked past Michael to where Helena was. Just as Michael turned, the little girl dissipated into a cloud of black smoke.

 

Michael laid Penelope down in their bed. She had fainted at the sight of their daughter disappearing before their eyes and it had taken everything in Michael to remain upright. The darkness they had both felt before she disappeared gave him an inkling as to where she could be. So, after he made sure his wife was safely in bed, he laid down on the floor next to her and mutter the words that would send him down to his father’s realm.

In the oval of black obsidian he saw an onyx cradle and in it was his daughter, sitting up and babbling like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Helena,” Michael breathed in relief as he made his way quickly to the baby. Just as he was within reach it was as if he had walked into a wall. His daughter was right in front of him. He could see her and she could see him, her little hands reaching out towards him and her face beginning to scrunch up as she couldn’t reach him. Over and over he banged his hand in front of him but every time he hit an invisible force that was keeping him from her. 

He wanted to scream. He wanted to yell. He wanted to cry. “Father! What is the meaning of this? Let me take my daughter back with me above. At least...At least let her go. I will stay in her place if that is what it takes.” He wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to Penelope or tell her he loved her one last time but she would understand. She would be able to put the pieces together that Michael had exchanged his soul for their daughter’s. He knew that she would do the same.

_ “I have your soul, my son. It is hers that I am interested in. Your golden wife’s influence is strong within her. Almost enough that I burn having her so close to me.” _ His father’s voice rang out around him but remained faceless.

“What will it take to set her free?” 

_ “You drop your bombs. And deliver me the soul of a very specific witch who will be in one of your Outposts.” _

“How will I know?” 

_ “I have faith in your drive, my son, that you will figure out a way to know. For knowing and succeeding will free your daughter back into your precious little microcosm that you have grown to hold so dear.” _

Michael awoke with a gasp. Quickly, he scrambled towards the phone that hung on the wall by their bedroom door and dialed a single number. 

“Drop the bombs.”

 

Night after night Michael descended into Hell in order to visit his daughter. He had managed to convince his father to lower the invisible barrier. He chose not to tell his wife that he had found their daughter, lying to her and telling her he was looking for her at night. Michael knew that it would kill Penelope to go down to Hell and spend a prolonged period of time there. He couldn’t risk losing her.

After waiting a few days for the necessary people to be placed into the proper Outposts he decided it was time to go and told his wife he was off. Their last night together Penelope knelt at her bed and prayed to her mother to protect Michael on his journey because she couldn’t afford to lose another piece of her soul.

It was rare that her mother spoke back to her in these moments, Demeter choosing to speak to her daughter on her own terms, but Penelope was shown a vision. A vision of Michael in Hell with Helena. He was singing a song and dancing with her close to his chest, her giggles making Penelope’s chest ache and his smile one that had been absent on his face around her for a long time. Her mother was showing her that Michael knew where Helena was. He had found her and was playing with her and loving her and he had been lying to Penelope night after night. She had gone to bed by herself and woken up with his side still cold. She thought the bags under his eyes were from worry but no. It was because he worked all day on his End Times and spent all night secretly meeting with their daughter.

Anger erupted within her. He was readying his carriage to leave the Sanctuary and this was the note they would be left on? She stood shakily, her powers making the wind whip outside, and began to march towards the door to confront him when he appeared.

“I came to say goodbye. I have made my final preparations.” He looked just as surprised as she felt when her hand cracked against his cheek.

“You selfish bastard. Everything I have ever told you wasn’t true...I take it all back. You disgust me.” Penelope used the back of her hand to wipe the snot that was running from her nose. 

“My love...If this is about me leaving...About the bombs…” He took a step closer to her and she cracked her hand across his other cheek, Michael gritting his teeth as he captured her wrist. “Stop this, now. I won’t tolerate you behaving like this in our final moments together.”

“You lied to me. You found her as soon as she disappeared. You’ve known this whole time and you’ve kept her from me. Kept my daughter from me.” He released his grip on her hand slowly. “Was this you and your father’s plan all along? Fool me into thinking it was real love. Fool me into begging you for a child, oh I bet you loved pretending to not want one, for my own safety nonetheless. Loved playing this game. Loved delivering her to your father like a lamb for slaughter!” Penelope turned away from him, a nauseous feeling settling in her stomach.

“Penelope this is what He wants! He wants the anger and distrust and animosity between us. Listen to me, yes, I found Helena and did not tell you. I did it to protect you!” His voice rose to a roar at his last statement. The idea that she could feel as though his feelings towards her were false or he was getting some sort of enjoyment out of her pain made his own tears begin to fall. “Going down there to see her would have killed you. I can’t bear to lose you, Penelope. I had to make a choice and I did. It was selfish but it kept the both of you safe.” She turned just her head from where she had dropped to her knees on the floor, the light behind her eyes gone and replaced by agony.

“I would have taken death over this unfulfilled life if it meant being able to hold her and tell her I love her one last time.” Even now she had accepted her fate. As soon as she could she would descend down to her daughter and spend as much time with her as possible before her soul remained trap there forever. It would be worth the eons of suffering to bring her daughter comfort one last time.

“I’m bringing her back, Penelope. My father has shown me the way.” Michael sat in front of her and offered her his hand. She studied it for a moment before she took it and allowed herself to be pulled against his chest. He sent love and warmth through their bond and she sighed deeply as the truth of his affection washed over her. “There is a witch at an Outpost who’s soul He will trade for Helena’s. I’m going to go find her.” Penelope looked up at him.

“You were going to leave me behind?”

“If she is as powerful as my father has said then it might be too dangerous. I’d rather know you were here and safe for me to return to.”

“We are stronger together, Michael. This way, if something happens to one of us, the other can still complete the task. Still rescue Helena from your father.”

“You would destroy the soul of another?”

“For you or Helena, yes. I would do anything.”

“I love you, Penelope, and the life we have built together and the light you have brought to my life. No matter what happens, I don’t want you to ever forget or question that. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“I’m sorry. I wish to always be by your side, Michael. I love you, too. My soul craves you.” They say together in silence, just enjoying the warmth and comfort that another heart and soul offered them. And as the world continued to burn around them, they found serenity in the arms of each other.

Outpost Three wouldn’t know what hit them.


	8. Let's Say You're Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope goes to Murder House.

She waited until she heard his doors slide close down the hall before she dared to open her eyes from her pretend sleep. Quietly, she stepped out of bed and moved to her closet. Inside her trunk of belongings Michael had delivered to the Sanctuary was everything she would need for the spell. She combined the necessary ingredients, including the lock of hair she had plucked from Michael’s head during their after dinner dance, and held her hand over the potion as it bubbled.

“ _ Quo me coepit ea _ ,” she whispered over and over again. Penelope knew it was working when it felt as though she was being lifted off the floor by an unseen force. The light of her magic began to fade away into darkness before she found herself on the sidewalk standing outside of brick house. The gate was locked but she remedied that with a wave of her hand but she still hesitated to cross onto the property.

The darkness was dizzying as it emanated from the structure. It made sense that Michael had been conceived here. Born here. Raised here. His father’s presence was everywhere and it made her sick to think that the man who had begun to care for her had never even stood a chance against it all.

Though no one inside the house was alive, she could still sense the presence of their souls. Michael had demonstrated to her only a few days ago that he had the ability to destroy souls. She wondered if that same power worked in a place where souls were tied to the house forever but answered her own question when she thought of the strength he possessed inside of him.

The floors creaked when she walked in, no one having stepped foot in the house for many years. Penelope looked around cautiously and crossed her arms over her chest as an uncomfortable breeze wafted around her.

“You’re new here.” Penelope jumped at the sound of a little voice and turned to see a girl in a yellow dress. Both of her eyes were missing.

“I am. My name is Penelope. What is your name?” She stepped forward slowly before squatting before the girl and extending her hand.

“Rose.” The little girl shook her hand loosely before returning it to clutch her doll. “Would you like to come to my tea party?”

“Yes. I would be honored to.” Rose offered Penelope her hand and led her up the stairs towards a pink room. “How long have you been here, Rose?”

“I’m not sure. Mother only recently joined me and I’ve been so happy. She’s coming to tea as well.”

“Who, pray tell, are you and what are you doing with my daughter?” She had seen Constance in Michael’s thoughts before. At night when his guard was done she could extend her powers down to his room and peak through as if she was flipping through records at a shop.

“My name is Penelope. I’ve come to meet you, Constance.”

“I tried my hardest to not be seen by you. But it felt like some guiding hand was forcing me to.” She puffed on her cigarette, entering the room to take a seat at the table Rose had set for the three of them. “I don’t trust beings with powers.”

“I’m not like Michael. That I can assure you of,” Penelope offered as she also took her seat.

“And what do you know about that boy? No one on this earth knows that boy like I do. I tried to raise him but it became insufferable.”

“You see, Ms. Langdon, this is why I’ve journeyed here. To learn more about Michael.”

“Unless you have a death wish and wish to live out your days in this house, I suggest you leave the subject of Michael alone, Miss Penelope.”

“Miss Penelope would you like a sugar cube?” Rose held a plastic bowl and spoon in her direction.

“Yes, Miss Rose, that would be lovely.”

“You’re a pretty girl. A nice girl. Michael leaves death wherever he goes. It’s been written inside him and you cannot change that.”

“May I take your hand, Ms. Langdon?” Penelope as politely as she offered her own hand to the woman. Constance chuckled in confusion but still offered her hand to Penelope regardless. Penelope closed her eyes and saw it all. The nanny. Aging overnight. The rose bushes. She saw Michael finding his grandmother’s dead body on the crouch and she shed her own tears as he did.

“What kind of witchcraft was that?” Constance screeched as she pulled her hand from the younger woman’s grip.

“I am not a witch. I was just looking.”

“Well you can look elsewhere. I will not relive those days.” Penelope thanked Rose for having her for tea before she rose and exited the room. Michael’s story did not end with the death of Constance Langdon and she hoped there was another spirit in the house who’s memories she could sift through for answers. She had found herself falling in love with Michael Langdon and she needed to know everything about him that she could before she accepted his proposal for marriage and an eternity together.

The sound of a baby crying drew her attention down the hallway. A tiny bundle sat in a cradle and it hurt Penelope to think that this baby had died so young and would never get the chance to grow up. 

Tentatively, she walked towards it hoping to offer it some comfort. As soon as her hand rested against its cloth covered tummy, it was silenced. The child looked at her with wide eyes and began to coo as she spread comfort throughout his little body.

“How did you do that?” A man with black hair stood there and was watching her apprehensively.

“Babies, children. I have an affinity towards them. He is so pure,” she whispered in awe as she stroked her hand over his cheek. “My name is Penelope.”

“I know. I heard you down the hall. Ben.” He offered his hand but she made no move to take it, infatuated with the tiny creature before her. “No one has come around here asking for Michael is quite a long time.”

“Who were the last ones to do so?” His comment had piqued her interest. If others were out there looking for information on him that could mean a threat was coming.

“They said they were witches and warlocks. They though Michael was one of them.”

“He is so much more.” A woman walked into the room with long hair and tired eyes. Immediately, Penelope was able to sense something familiar within her that she had sensed within Michael, within the child that lay in front of her. This was Michael’s mother. “The darkness that surrounds him. The people that have come calling him the chosen one. There is no one like him.” Penelope listened intently as they both explained their experiences with Michael. Ben trying to be a father figure but giving up once he witnessed the extent of his powers. The way Vivien had tried to kill him when the pieces had been put together that he was the son of Satan. 

“He has only treated me with kindness,” Penelope uttered as her brain hurt in its attempt to process all of the information that had been given to her.

“If Michael is being nice to you, there is something he wants from you. All of the spirits here can feel the power of the light within you. Maybe it is you that can destroy him once and for all.” Penelope shivered at the idea that she would willingly destroy anything. 

“Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. and Mrs. Harmon but I best be going. My physical body is tired from the trip.” It was only a projection of her that she had sent to the house and she could feel the journey beginning to take a slight toll on her. It was taking much out of her to force the spirits out of hiding and even more to defend herself against the darkness that radiated throughout the structure. She stroked a thumb over the little boy’s cheek one last time before she turned to find that staircase Rose had led her up.

As she reached the bottom, there was a whisper in her ear.  _ “Come to me.” _ The voice reached her in the deepest part of her soul and compelled her to towards what looked like a study. Even if she had been a full capacity, Penelope did not think that she would have been strong enough to ignore the pull the being had over her.

As she entered the room, sitting at the desk was black, rubber man. He had no face. When she reached out to try and find his soul, there was none. She was met with pure darkness. 

“You are Michael’s father.” She knew, as though it had been planted there long ago, that this was how He was choosing to manifest himself to her.

_ “I have gone by many names, little goddess.” _

“Did you task him with taking me?” The longer she stood in His presence, the more her body was beginning to shake. It felt as though something inside of her was trying escape. A dark chuckle emanated from the figure and she felt a trickle of blood fall from her ear.

_ “He was infatuated with you long before I ever spoke to him. The half of him that remains tied to his earth calls to you the way all mortals souls do, Penelope. Surely your mother told you of the sway you could have over man. If only you were willing to use it.” _ She thought back to the first time she had laid eyes on Michael. Of how she had felt warmth and kindness and seen a glimpse of happiness in their future together in his blue eyes. Of how quickly that had been replaced by fear when his darkness consumed her and she had woken up chained to a bed in his castle.

“I’ve seen the future we are to have together. I won’t let you deny him his happiness ever again.”

_ “The day you come to visit me in my domain, little goddess, will be a joy for me. I cannot wait for your attempt at a challenge.” _ It was then that something inside of her snapped. No longer could she hold the barrier that separated His darkness from seeping into her. The tendrils of black smoke bound her together and wrapped around her face until she felt as though she was suffocating. She couldn’t scream and even if she could, there was no one who could help her that could hear her. This was going to be how Penelope died, at the hands of Satan in the house where he had created Michael. Oh how her heart hurt at the thought that he would be the one to find her lifeless in her room. She had just begun to open herself up to the possibility that being with him wasn’t so bad. He had so much hope in his chest for her and him together and she cried at the idea that it would never happen. That she would just be another name for him to add to the list of those that had left him. Those that being near him had meant their end.

Just as she began to feel the very last of the light be taken out of her body and her eyes began to close for the final time, it felt as though her hair was being harshly pulled in the opposite direction of the darkness. It was then that her own screams began to ring in her ears, the suffocating smoke gone as she landed back on the floor in her room at the Sanctuary.

“Penelope! Penelope!” It was Michael. He wrapped her in his arms and held her firmly against his chest as he rocked gently in the hopes it would quiet her sobs. “You’re safe. You’re safe.” Her fingers curled into the thin linen of the shirt he was wearing and she tethered herself back to reality.

“I couldn’t breathe,” she gasped out as she took deep breaths in the hopes her breathing would even out once again.

“Where did you go, Penelope?” It hadn’t taken Michael long to figure out the spell she was practicing when he had walked into her room. The materials were known to him and the faraway look on her eyes had told him she was physically in the room with him but not spiritually.

“I went to where it all began. A brick house. Filled with spirits. The darkness...it was too strong for me.” 

“Why on earth would you go there? To figure out my ruin just as the others did?” If she hadn’t been so warm and willing in his arms Michael might have recoiled away from her at the admission. That house represented the deepest of horrors to him and the idea that Penelope, the woman who he thought could change everything, could now be tainted by it was devastating.

“I wanted to learn more about you. Where you came from...your father...your real father was there…”

“You are never to go back there, Penelope, do you understand me? That house could corrupt the purest of souls and you deserve better than that.” He held her face between his hands. “You are safe here in the Sanctuary from my past. From my father. Help me keep it that way.” At first, Michael had been tempted to darken her soul himself but it didn’t take long for him to realize that it was more likely she would bring light to his rather than the other way around.

“You are so strong, Michael, for surviving what that house put you through. I wish I could have found you back then.” Her breathing had evened out, the beat of Michael’s heart against her ear aiding in that, and it was then she learned how natural it felt to be wrapped up in him the way she was.

“It is you who is strong Penelope. Being able to face my father and live to tell the tale.” Michael thought carefully before speaking his next words. “I was right in choosing you to be my queen.” She looked up at him in confusion.

“You wish for me to be the Queen of the Sanctuary? Even after me hiding in here since I’ve been in here? You still believe we are meant to be?”

“I don’t believe it, Penelope, I know it.”

“May I kiss you, Michael Langdon?” She regarded him softly, watching the last of his anger towards her travels dissipate as he nodded to her request. Her lips were tentative against his at first, closed and light against his own. Her hand was delicately placed on his cheek as Michael wrapped his arms tighter against her waist. He gently took the lead and slipped his tongue into her mouth to deepened the kiss. The top of her body pressed against his chest as the intensity of their first kiss increased and the heat began to rise in the room. It wasn’t messy or done in fury. It was two people exploring each other for the first time and what they hoped wouldn’t be the last time. It was the first in a forever of being together.

Penelope moved to straddle Michael with her other hand joining in cupping his cheeks, daring him to try and escape her grip. “Maybe we should stop. Slow down,” she whispered as she pulled away. Michael placed gentle kisses to her nose and around her jawline, much to her delight, as he sought to steady himself.

“Of course. We have however long it takes to do everything we want to together.”

“Spend the night with me,” she whispered against his lips as though she was divulging her deepest and darkest secret to him. Michael nodded, not trusting himself to speak. She stood and offered him her hand, it was warm and strong and sure in hers, leading him to her bed. Michael went in first and held the blankets up for her to follow and Penelope hadn’t realized until then how big and lonely she must have looked in her bed without him in it.

Her head landed on his chest instead of the pillow and she traced gentle patterns on the exposed skin of his collarbone as her eyes got heavier. “Goodnight, Michael, I hope you have sweet dreams.” And with her in his arms, where she was meant to be, he doesn’t know how he couldn’t.

 


	9. Where The Grass Is Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time Michael & Penelope meet.

The dirt was cold against her bare feet as she ran through the forest as if her life depended on it. Because it did. The hoots and hollers of the hunters chasing after were echoing through the trees as Penelope tried to center herself enough to reach out to her mother. She was desperately in need of her aid at this moment but something was blocking her powers.

Her wandering mind failed to notice the bear trap until it was clasped around her ankles. The guttural cry that escaped past her lips as she landed on the forest floor, warm blood trickling down her foot and seeping into the dirt. When they finally caught up to her, one of the hunters roughly grabbed her chin and held her in a tight grip so she had nowhere to look but at him.

“Where’s your powers now, little witch?”

“Please. I am not a witch.” She was so much more and if that unseeable force wasn’t blocking her powers then she would let them all know.

“No human could heal an animal like you did on my farm back there.” Penelope cried out once again as another hunter released the pressure of the trap on her ankle.

“She’ll fetch a pretty penny at the Marketplace tonight.” The men chuckled darkly, Penelope unclear of this Marketplace they were speaking of.

“Go to sleep, little witch, need you nice and rested for the show tonight.” Her hand wasn’t strong enough to stop the hunter from placing a soaked cloth over her nose and mouth. She remembers a flick of blonde hair in the distance before she closed her eyes and darkness took over.

 

\----

 

She awoke to the sounds of male laughter and the clanging of glasses. There were bars of a cage obstructing her view of the scene but Penelope painted a picture in her head. Red velvet drapes lined the walls, the platform she rested on sat in the middle of the room so all could see her equally. Their stares lingered in the most obvious of places as they raked their gazes down her body. Uncomfortable goosebumps sprouted in their wake.

“Our top prize of the night is this beautiful little creature.” She jumped back in fear as a spotlight swung to land on her. “She put up quite the fight in the forest today but was no match for our top group of hunters. Entering price for this beauty is $10 million. Pay up and you can do whatever you want to this little witch nymph for as long as you find her useful for.” Bile rose in throat as she realized she was at one of the witch auction halls she had only ever heard rumors of. Hunters would inject their prey with toxic cocktails designed to inhibit their powers before selling them like a magical whorehouse.

“Plese, Mother, help me fight past whatever it is trying to keep my abilities at bay so I may escape this wretched fate Hades has set out for me.” Her pleas were whispered as the people in front of her were calling out numbers, the total getting higher and higher with no one missing a beat between climbs. 

“ENOUGH.” Everyone’s heads snapped towards the door where a short woman stood wrapped in a cloak. “My master has sent me to retrieve this prize to be his own. The bidding therefore shall stop. She is of his household now.” Penelope wondered who her master could be if she was able to come in and stop everyone in their tracks and take her without paying. Penelope also noticed that no one seemed to be annoyed by the intrusion though they had all been brimming with excitement a few moments earlier. She figured the man’s status must be so high that to be disappointed by a decision of his was to never have the chance to be disappointed again.

Quietly, she curled up into herself as they moved her cage from the platform out into a waiting carriage. “My master will be upset if she is caged like an animal when she arrives. Unlock it.” The men did as the woman suggested, Penelope crawling out quickly before they could change their minds and put her back in.

“Who is your master that he has such power?” she asked as the woman handed her a champagne colored dress.

“Here. He has requested you wear something fit for the Queen you are to become.”

“The Queen of what?” she inquired as she gripped the dress tighter in her lap. The woman shook her head with a light chuckle.

“I do not wish to tarnish your first impression of him. All will be explained in it’s own time, my dear.” Penelope swallowed, the carriage bouncing as the horses began to move down an invisible path to the home of the mysterious man that had just taken her from the auction house.

“Do you have a name?” she asked.

“My master refers to me as Ms. Mead. You may do the same.”

“Well, it is nice to meet you, Ms. Mead. My name is Penelope.”

“I know, miss, my master has been speaking of you very highly for quite a long time. He has been waiting his whole life for you.” It sounded off to Penelope. As though this meant that everything had been carefully planned to end up this way. “You should change, miss. The Sanctuary isn’t too far from here.”

 

\----

 

It was a castle that they eventually pulled up to. A few men rushed from the entrance to open the carriage door for her, extending their hand to help her down.

“Thank you,” she whispered, in shock from her new surroundings. When they bowed at her feet she wondered if everyone here knew of her intended purpose except for her.

“This way, Mistress Penelope. Master Langdon is waiting for you.” A nice looking girl emerged, curtsying, and extending her hand into the castle which looked to be lit by a warm and roaring fire. Penelope followed the girl, learning her name was Charlotte, through the foyer and into a dining room. It had a long and elegant table but was only set for two.

“I am happy to see the dress fits.” The maid scattered as a man appeared from the top of the staircase. “It was more challenging than I had anticipated to recall your measurements by memory to the castle’s seamstress.” His blonde hair was curled at the nape of his neck in a near angelic manner, his skin as smooth as marble and facial structure just as strong.

“You must be the master of the castle. I am Penelope. Thank you for welcoming me into your home.” She curtsied, thinking that was what he would expect seeing as all the other people in the castle had done it.

“No, you do not need to curtsy to me, Penelope. You are my equal, yes?” He chuckled as a blush spread across her cheeks, aching to reach his hand out and stroke the skin to see if it was as smooth in real life as it had been in his dreams. “Would you like to join me for dinner? I am sure you have so many questions and I wish to answer them all for you. Ease any discomfort.” He pulled out a chair and gestured for her to take a seat. She did, unfolding her napkin and placing it delicately across her lap.

“I’m sorry but I do not think I caught your name.”

“Michael.” He sat down himself at the head of table, she to his right, and with a wave of his hand a pair of waiters came out with their first course. It looked to be a salad with radishes and fennel, two of the crops Penelope had recently been working on, with a dressing that tasted of honey and pomegranate.

“Should I be happy to be here, Michael? I can’t help but be uneasy of the circumstances under which I come to you.”

“The life you will be provided here is nothing of the sort any of those men could have given you. I could hear their wretched thoughts all the way here...I think you will learn to love your life here.”

“I cannot just go home?” Penelope had to at least try. The only way she believed she would truly be happy would be if Michael simply allowed her to go back to her home, where she belonged. Where the hunters had chased her from. 

“Now, Miss Penelope, you will find that that is not the destiny that has been written for you.” A shiver ran down her spine at his words and the power that was behind them as he spoke.

“What do you know of my destiny?”

“That is was interwoven with mine by the power of my father before I ever laid eyes on you.”

“I get the sense, Michael, that you have known of me much longer than I have of you.” He hummed as he took a sip of the wine in his glass.

“It would seem your intuition stretches beyond your powers.” The blood running through her veins ran cold as a thought settled into her mind.

“Are you the one blocking the powers within me?” If it were true, and something innately within her said it was, then she feared she had just fallen into another trap. She was right where this man wanted her to be and that could not be a good thing.

“I do not like to get my hands dirty and it took me quite awhile to devise this means of getting you here. I had to perfect the block before attempting it though inputting those horrid thoughts into the hunters heads was easier than even I had anticipated.”

“I would like to leave, Michael.” Penelope rose from her seat at the table, clutching onto the edge of it for support. Fear was crashing over her uncontrollably and she hated feeling as though she had no means to protect herself. He looked like a man but something told her there was so much more to the beautiful creature that sat next to her.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. In time, Penelope, I think you will learn to not only love the Sanctuary but to appreciate the place beside me I am offering you through all that is to come.”

“I could never learn to love a cage, even one that is gilded.” She made a move to turn and head back the way she came, content with taking her luck on surviving the night outside these walls and away from him, when his hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist. Without missing a beat she fell to the floor like an accordion, Michael catching her in his arms before she could land anywhere else.

“My sweet petal. One day you will forgive me.” 

  
  



	10. Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael & Penelope's first Christmas as husband and wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a short little thing in the spirit of the season!

When Michael woke that morning, he was slightly bothered to find that his wife was not in bed beside him. For a brief moment betrayal splashed across his heart. He had spent so long alone before meeting Penelope and feared that there would come a time after her that he would spend alone. In only two short years she had become a necessary fixture in his life and he didn’t know how he could cope if she decided to leave him. He was about to begin the process of trying to talk himself out of a panic attack when he remembered what day it was. Christmas. She had been talking about it incessantly for quite some time, Michael not having the heart to explain to her that he had zero interest in celebrating the holiday or anything to do with it. It was the sound of her laughter wafting up from the downstairs that had him begrudgingly rising from his bed.

“My love! You’re awake!” Penelope couldn’t contain her delight as Michael appeared at the landing. The staff around her was quiet in their work, nervous as to how he would react to all the decorations and food. “Come eat, I have made enough to feed a small army.” His steps were slow and measured as he descended the staircase.

“Penelope, darling, it would be odd for me to celebrate Christmas.” Her face fell like a lead balloon and Michael’s heart went right down with it.

“It’s not all about the religious part, Michael. It is about spending time with the people you love and trying to show them how much they mean to you. I didn’t do all of this just because it is Christmas...I did it because I love you.” She hadn’t expected Michael to question her or push back against her actions. She had hoped he would see the joy it brought her and let it seep into him as well. She had hoped he would enjoy a lovely meal with her and let her shower him with the gifts she was able to purchase without leaving the Sanctuary. It was her first Christmas being someone’s wife and he wasn’t making it a very enjoyable experience.

“I love you too, so very much, but I-” He looked around him at the faces of the servants that were around them. They were all glaring at him. Since Penelope had arrived they had all taken quite the liking to her and seemed to be willing to take her side over his. Their looks told him not to break her heart or they would have no choice but to break something of his in return.

“For me? Will you at least try to make today special and happy and joyous, for me?” She took a step closer to him so her hands could rest flat against his chest.

“Alright. But only because I love your cooking.” Penelope made no attempt to cheer silently in victory, the rest of the stuff seeming more elated as Michael spoke his approval for the celebrations.

“Come and sit!” She laced her fingers through his and all but dragged him towards the table. Plate after plate was placed in front of Michael, each dish somehow tasting better than the last. 

“Penelope, I do not think I have enough room for any more food,” he groaned as the latest plate was cleared from in front of him.

“Binge eating on Christmas is totally justified!” Penelope exclaimed but reeled in her own excitement when she saw the grimace on his face. “Let’s move to the couch.” She waved away the men who were carrying the next round of food, helping Michael walk sleepily towards the chaise that rested by the fire.

“Will you rub my tummy?” he whispered pitifully. She nodded, sitting down first so he could rest his head in her lap and her arm could reach down to his bloated belly.

“Better?”

“Much better, my beautiful wife.” He closed his eyes and she thought for a moment he was going to go to sleep on her. “Let’s celebrate Christmas every year. Yes?” Pure merriment bloomed in her chest as he smiled in his sleep, knowing the effect he was having on her.

“Yes, Michael, I would love that very much.” Every time those around them triumphed over pulling him a bit closer to darkness, she would also be there to drag him back into the light.


	11. When Loved Ones Are Near

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael & Helena sneak some cookies.

The surprise addition to the Langdon family was not happy. Isaac had been found in a basket by Michael outside the gates to the Sanctuary only a few days ago. The connection he had felt with him upon first glance was one he had felt first seeing Penelope and Helena. He knew the little baby was meant to be in his family. It would have been much easier for Michael to ask his wife to soothe the baby back to sleep seeing as she was such a natural at it anyways but he was determined to prove that his connection to his son was strong and that he was capable.

“It’s okay, Isaac, you’re safe. I’ve got you.” Michael had held Isaac the entire first night he was home with them. He could only imagine how scared the newborn had been all alone in the open like that. He had done some horrible things but he could never imagine abandoning a child. Michael had felt that betrayal and abandonment and had felt a piece of his heart heal that he had been able to save this baby from a similar fate.

“Daddy?” He looked towards the entryway where Helena stood rubbing sleep from her eyes and clutching her blanket. “The baby woke me up.” Michael held open an arm and she scurried forward to be tucked against her father’s side.

“I’m sorry, my love. Isaac is just confused as to where he is and is scared. He’ll quieten down soon. We just have to shower him with love. Can you help me?” His daughter nodded eagerly, having witnessed how her mother was able to calm the baby with the touch of her hand and hoping she could do the same. Helena idolized her mother.

“I love you so much, Isaac. I’m gonna be the best big sister ever to you.” She kissed the tip of her fingers and pressed it to the bottom of his foot, his cries quieting at her actions. Michael looked down at his daughter with intrigue.

“You have a powerful kiss, little lamb,” he said with complete sincerity. It didn’t surprise him that she had the magical touch of her mother. In fact, every time she showed signs of the light it made his own chest lighter.

“Can I have a cookie as a reward?” Her and Penelope had spent the past two days baking and decorating cookies for the upcoming Christmas party she was hosting for her friends from the Sanctuary preschool.

“Only if you promise not to tell your mother.” Helena nodded and grabbed Michael’s hand as the trio began to make their way towards the stairs.

“How long is Isaac staying here, Daddy?” she questioned as she used her kitchen stool to sit in a stool by the counter.

“I think Mommy and I are going to let him stay here forever. Is that okay with you?” Neither of them had really broached the subject with their daughter. It was different than telling her there was a baby inside of Penelope that would become her brother or sister. This baby had just been in her life one day and they were asking her to adjust to that and accept it. Michael had felt such an instant connection to Isaac that he hadn’t stopped to wonder what would happen if Helena didn’t.

“Is he going to cry like that forever?” Michael lifted the lid off the cake plate that held an array of cookies, Helena picking one with peanut butter and biting into it daintily.

“Not all the time. But if he does, he might need his big sister to kiss it better. As his big sister you have to help Mommy and Daddy protect him and love him. Can you do that?”

“Of course, Daddy! You and Mommy always say I give the best hugs so I can hug Isaac and it will all be okay.”

“You do give the best hugs, pumpkin. Can Daddy have one right now?” She nodded, Michael coming around to her side so she could reach him. She knelt on the stool to kiss Isaac’s forehead once she was done hugging her father.

“We have the best Daddy ever, Isaac.” Helen returned to her cookie but let her new little brother hold onto her finger as she did. Michael didn’t know what he had done to deserve it but he doesn’t think he could ever be happier.


	12. It’s All Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ice between Penelope & Michael begins to thaw.

Michael had lost track of the days he had spent sitting with his back against her door. Penelope had locked herself in her room ever since that first dinner on her first night. He was at a loss as to what to do. It wasn’t as though he had any experience in the romance department. He had thought it would be easier. Michael thought he could wine her and dine her and eventually she’d come around to accepting her fate by his side. Instead she was proving to be quite the formidable match. 

“Penelope, please come out so I can speak with you. Let me allay your fears.” The now commonplace sounds of her feet padding towards the door echoed. 

“Michael you kidnapped me from my home and expect me to bow down and…”

“No, not bow down.” Michael quickly scrambled to his feet and pressed his hands flat against her doors. “You are my equal. One day, maybe even my Queen.”

“How am I to know of your true intentions? You bear the mark of the beast.” Oh how the chill of a shadow had shivered through her at that revelation. 

“Let me show you around the Sanctuary. You’re new home. I’m sure you’ll find it quite suited to your liking.” Michael had designed it completely with her in mind. Ever since he had first stumbled upon her during his time in the woods, he had felt at the very core of his being that she was the one he was meant to spend his life with. After feeling as though he had hit rock bottom she had appeared before him like a dream. In the woods his soul had reached out to her. Begged her to scoop him off the ground and cradle his pieces back into a whole but her soul had told him he wasn’t ready yet. That he wasn’t ready to accept the love and light that she was going to fill him with. He had to work on himself before he could have her. And he didn’t know why she was still being so difficult. He had done all the things a man was supposed to do for a woman he loved. Built her a home. Provided her with warmth, food, water. There were empty garden patches in the back waiting for her to plant and grow. Animals that yearned for the nurturing care that a women with her talents offered. He knew of the stereotype of women being difficult but he thinks that dealing with a Goddess must make them that much more so.

“Just a walk around? In the fresh air?” As she finally opened the door to her room, Michael was now aware of how different she looked from the last time he had seen her. She was paler, her hair looked more grey and her cheekbones were poking from her skin.

“Are you not feeling well?”

“I haven’t been in nature for so long that I...I had slowly begun to wither.” He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and dragging his fingers down her rough cheek.

“Then let’s get you into the sunlight.” She nodded weakly, Michael assisting her back to her closet so she could grab a cloak then carefully walking her down the stairs so they could exit the castle. He thinks a few people they passed were praying at the sight of her. They had all felt her power and seeing her show weak from the presence of the Antichrist, they could all only imagine what could happen to them if he ever turned against them. As soon as they stepped out onto the grass her hand in his seemed to warm. “Do you feel better already?”

“Yes. Let’s go a little further.” Michael continued to walk slowly with her further and further from the suffocation of the walls of the castle. “This is exactly what I needed, Michael. Thank you for your persistence.” 

“Shall we sit?” They had reached a wide expanse of the greenest grass and Penelope dropped to it immediately and ran her fingers through the healthy strands. It was almost as if Michael could sense her body being reinvigorated by the sun and the wind and the grass. This was the first time he’d seen her smile since arriving at the Sanctuary. 

“Tell me, Michael, what it is you were hoping to achieve by kidnapping me?”

“It is embarrassing to admit but I have little social experience. I did not think you would come willingly as quickly as I wanted so I took matters into my own hands.” He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was practically glowing and his mouth was watering with desire for her. “You are the most beautiful creature in Heaven or Hell or anything in between, Penelope. Do you know that?” 

“No,” she said as she blushed and shook her head, “I have never given anyone the chance to compliment me. I keep to myself and my crops and my animals. Occasionally I would visit the local children but they just thought I was a Princess or something.”

“They weren’t totally off.” He regarded her softly as she deeply inhaled the gust of wind that swept through the field. “I want you to be happy here, Penelope, I really do. No matter what that means.” Michael meant that even if it meant him not having her in the way he craved. 

“I think we can meet in the middle on the matter. I can come out of my room more, start exploring this outside world. And give you a chance to prove to me who you really are. Not just who your father is.” He released the weight of the world in one sigh.

“That is all I could ever ask for, Penelope, thank you.” She got the sense based on how relieved he felt that Michael wasn’t used to people giving him the benefit of the doubt.

“May I?” she asked as she tilted her chin in the direction of where his hand rested on the grass between them. He shrugged and held it up to her, Penelope grasping it between both of hers. The little bit of her powers that were able to break through the block Michael still had on them seeped into the skin and opened her eyes to his memories. She saw a room of mirrors. A blonde, older woman slumped on a couch. A beating heart in the palm of his hand.

“Stop that!” Michael yanked his hand from her clasp with a cry. Penelope jumped back, startled, and braced herself for what wrath the son of Satan was going to unleash on her. “I have taken very careful care to build scars over the wounds of my past. Please do not make me rip those off.” He cradled his hand to his chest as if it had been burnt. The slight tremor of his shoulders called to her so she did something neither of them had suspected. Penelope closed the distance she had put between them and cradled his head against her chest.

“I am sorry, Michael. I will not use my powers with you without your explicit consent ever again.” She had let her curiosity get the best of her and she felt regretful for that. Without meaning to, he felt himself tense at the show of affection. It had been a lifetime since Michael had felt the comfort of another heartbeat against his ear. His synced up to hers perfectly as he rested his weight into her chest.

“You have a very calming presence,” he whispered as he felt perfectly at ease for the first time in forever. 

“It is one of my many gifts given to me by my mother.” Michael sat up in her embrace.

“Will you join me for dinner tonight?” She nodded, the intensity of her gaze making it difficult to form words. Without truly thinking about it, he reached forward and stroked his fingers down her cheek. Her skin was even smoother than it had been in his dreams. He could not wait to see how different the rest of her was to the images he had conjured up in his dreams. “I’ll have Amelia and Charlotte come to aid you in getting ready tonight.”

“Michael, I-” she started as she wished to refuse the staff that he was offering her.

“Let me provide for you in the ways I can, Penelope. We live in a castle. You should be treated as such.”

“Okay, then. Is there a color you’d prefer me in?” His eyes turned darker as he didn’t even take a full second to think about it.

“Red.”

 

\----

 

Penelope inquired to the two women if the swell of her breasts was too much for dinner, the red dress off her shoulders making her look fuller than she ever had.

“Master Langdon is not easily stricken by the flesh, Miss Penelope.”

“Believe us, Miss Penelope, many have tried and none have succeeded.” She furrowed her brow as they continued to bustle around her and make tiny tailoring changes to the gown.

“What does that mean?”

“Master Langdon is the most handsome and powerful man in the Sanctuary, in the whole world. Almost all of the village women have tried to tempt him into bed. His resolve is steel.”

“There has never been anyone in his life? You would know?” They guided her to her vanity next to straighten out her hair and apply some color to her face.

“Oh, Miss Penelope, you truly do not know. He has been waiting for you. We all have been waiting for you.”

“You all really believe that I am destined to be with him.” It wasn’t even a question anymore. In the time she had been there it had become clear that they all thought of her as the rightful Queen to stand by his side for eternity.

“All the pieces will fall into place. You two have forever to figure it out,” Amelia answered as she rubbed a gold-flecked serum onto Penelope’s face.

“I have never seen a man put as much effort into courting a woman as I have Master Langdon put into you, Miss Penelope.” They both hummed with smirks on their faces. Penelope’s neck jolting back at a particularly harsh rake of the brush by Charlotte.

“Do you think he will mind that I wish to move slow?” Penelope asked. “I have so many questions and am trying to get used to all of this change.”

“Master Langdon has already waited so long that I doubt it will make a difference how much longer. Just having you here has already made the sun shine longer.”

“Oh, Miss Penelope, we would love to have tea with you one day and answer all of your questions! Amelia and I are quite perceptive and love to gather information.”

“Meaning you like to procure gossip?” Penelope asked for clarification.

“Yes! Until you came we were just doing mindless things in preparation. We learned so much about the rest of the Sanctuary in that time,” Amelia added as she tapped over Penelope’s face with a powder brush.

“Well then we will certainly have to sit down for tea. I have to know how this place runs,” she whispered as though someone could have been listening in on them.

“I’ve been told that mischief follows the giggles and whispers of women.” The three whipped their heads around to find Michael standing in the doorway.

“Master Langdon.” The two handmaids dropped to their knees instantly in a show of reverence.

“You look spectacular, Penelope.” She rose from the chair in front of the mirror and walked towards him.

“All thanks to this beautiful dress you got me and the talents of Amelia and Charlotte.”

“Thank you, Miss Penelope,” they rang in unison.

“Well, if anything, the dress and topical treatments only enhanced the wonder that is already you.” She placed her hand gently in his outstretched one, Michael bending at the hip to place a kiss on top of it, maintaining eye contact with her the entire time. “Dinner awaits, my lady.” He escorted her down the stairs, the sounds of a cello reaching her ears.

“Oh, Bach’s Suite No. 1. My absolute favorite,” Penelope said with excitement as the man playing the instrument came into view.

“I thought some light music would be a nice backdrop for our evening.”

“It is wonderful.” She turned so she was facing him and grabbed both of his hands to give them a thankful squeeze. For the brief moment that their chests touched and her face was mere centimeter from his, Michael thinks his heart stopped beating. He then led her to the table and pulled out a chair for her, pushing it back in once she was seated and comfortable. He sat across from her, forgoing his usual seat at the head of the table. Ever since Michael had made the transition into the castle on the grounds of the Sanctuary, he had sat alone at the head of the table for every meal. He had been told that it could be lonely at the top. The loneliness didn’t matter to  him as long as he was able to enact his father’s plans. Side effects be damned. “Maybe one night I can cook for you. I love being in the kitchen.”

“I would be delighted and honored to eat a meal cooked by you,” Michael replied with a sincere tone and expression as the servers brought out the first course of stuffed crimini mushrooms.

“On our walk today, I noticed some plots of land perfect for gardening. Are those for me?” She took a smiling sip of her wine.

“Technically the entire Sanctuary is as much yours as it is mine. Those plots are specifically designated for you and whatever you might wish to plant there, yes.”

“Oh I must plant some flowers for the bees. It is so sad that they are on the brink of extinction.” Michael held back that everything was on the brink of extinction according to his plans. But he wasn’t about to snuff out the fire behind her eyes at the plight of the bees and her desire to plant a flower garden just with them in mind.

“I look forward to seeing it.” They finished their first and second courses with polite conversations, both of them laughing and blushing and their hands moving closer to each others across the table with each glass of wine. It was when the pumpkin cheesecake came out for dessert that they were interrupted.

“Pardon the interruption, Master Langdon, but we have an urgent disciplinary matter that requires your attention.”

“Not now, Nathaniel.” He didn’t even bother waving his hand at the man. Michael kept eye contact with Penelope and hoped this interference wouldn’t upset the wavelength they had both found themselves on.

“Master Langdon-” His chair screeched as he stood up forcefully. This little imp was ruining the beautiful night he was having with the women of his dreams. Ruining the crowning achievement of all his years of hard work and obeying the timeline of others.

“Kill them for all I care! And then come back here so I-”

“Michael?” Penelope was looking up at him with fear in her eyes. His body was shaking with rage as he turned his head so he could look at her. “Take a deep breath. I don’t mind if you have business to attend to.” She walked around to his side of the table and pecked her lips against his upper arm in the hopes her touch would relax him.

“Let me at least walk you to your room first.” One of her arms looped through his and her other hand held his. Michael was delighted at all the points of contact their sides had.

“Dinner was wonderful, Michael. Thank you. May we do it again sometime?”

“I have dinner at that table every night if you would wish to join me.”

“Yes I would like that very much.” They reached her door all too soon and he began to think of how he many different ways he could say goodnight in order to prolong their time together. “Once in awhile, you could show mercy to your people. You attract more bees with honey you know.” Michael smiled and took a step closer to her so the only thing in between them were their intertwined hands.

“Are you referring to unfortunate incident at dinner?”

“Yes...Perhaps I can use my feminine wiles to expose your soft side,” she teased.

“I will always welcome more time spent with you, Penelope. No matter your motivations.” He ached to kiss her. To make sure not a single ray of light could sneak between them.

“Goodnight, Michael Langdon, I hope you have the sweetest of dreams.” She used his chest as leverage to press a kiss to his cheek. It was the softest sensation Michael had ever experienced. Every nerve on his body was lit on fire once her lips pressed against his cheek and he thinks colors he never knew existed in the world flitted across his eyes. “You’ve not had affection shown towards you in a long time.” It was when she pulled away and Michael remained still with closed eyes that the knowledge washed over her.

“It has been awhile,” he whispered.

“We can work on that.” Her fingers combed through the curls of his hair that tickled against his cheek.

“Maybe tomorrow you can show me a demonstration of your powers? I will remove the block.” Michael felt as though he at least owed her that much. He would have to earn her trust and respect, it wouldn’t just be given to him the way it had been in the rest of the Sanctuary.

“That sounds lovely...I can make us a picnic lunch as well.” Penelope did not understand what a date was but Michael was thinking to himself that that was exactly what their excursion tomorrow sounded like.

“Until then.” He placed one last lingering kiss to her hand and stayed at her door even a few moments after it was closed. Penelope did the same, both their hands coming to press against the wooden door in the same place. Neither knew how to describe the electricity that thrummed between them. She didn’t want to let the idea of him actually being her soulmate enter into her mind but it was a new and foreign feeling and she was not opposed to it. Penelope went to bed with a smile on her face that night for the first time since she had been captured in the woods. Michael was merciful to the two men caught stealing when he finally returned downstairs to continue the business aspect of running the Sanctuary. In his own way it was his offering to Penelope’s mother, wherever the Goddess resided. His father had blessed his intended union to Penelope and he hoped that her mother could too. That night he felt as though some of the cracks in his heart had healed simply from her presence. Michael hadn’t felt whole for a very long time and the fullness in his chest was uncomfortably new at first but he thinks it was something he could get used to. Learn to embrace even. It was hard to feel comfortable with being wanted after so long of being tossed to the side. And he laid there that night looking at the moon shining through his window and thought how for the first time in almost forever, he couldn’t wait to face the day tomorrow. Michael Langdon was excited to face the light.


	13. He's Got Himself A Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael talks to his daughter while she is in the womb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> brief mention of scenes related to kidnapping

The inhabitants of the Sanctuary were not sure of the sound that was coming from the bedroom of their King & Queen. Many a time they had heard passionate moans and gasps and the distinct sound of bare skin hitting skin but this was not that. To the average listener it sounded like...giggling. They did not know the Antichrist to be capable of such a sound but it was there.

In the comfort on their bedroom, Michael was blowing raspberries onto the rounded stomach of his pregnant wife. The sensation was making her laugh which was making the baby inside her laugh and kick at Michael’s mouth and every time she made contact, he laughed. He can’t remember a time that he was ever remotely happy. But this was pure joy. Penelope, by the grace of some otherworldly entity, loved him and after his initial hesitation to fill her with his child, he was over the moon with anticipation and excitement. He knew it was a girl, blessed by Satan with a daughter, but he was keeping it a secret from his wife at her request. 

“They love your laugh. They keep telling me to make you laugh again,” Michael mused once he had caught his breath from his latest bout of amusement.

“Is our child already wrapping you around their finger, Michael?” she teased as her fingers carded through his hair where his head rested on her stomach.

“Happily,” he hummed with his eyes closing in absolute contentment. He had had many late night conversations with his daughter about so many different things. All of them ended with him declaring his love for her and how he absolutely could not wait until she was there, with him and her mother. Could not wait to see how beautiful she would look in her mother’s arms. How nothing could ever compare to the love she was going to receive from her parents.

“Do you think you could get me a doughnut? The baby wants want covered in chocolate...More than one. Like four.” Her fingers kept carding through his hair, partially because she loved the silk strands but also because he was more keen to oblige her every whim if it was accompanied by a loving touch. 

“If you don’t stop doing that then I am going to fall asleep and you won’t get your doughnut.” Either of them could have easily asked a member of their staff to run the errand but Michael had taken it upon to himself to be as a part of the baby as he could. From conception to cravings to rubbing lotion on Penelope’s tummy, Michael was relishing in the simple joys of becoming a father. It made him wonder why he had been so adamantly against the idea in the first place.

“Oh gosh, I think little one is practicing their magic again.” Oh, that was why. Michael was reminded of his absolute hatred for having to watch his wife experience any kind of pain and as she doubled over in discomfort he felt guilty that he had done this to her and couldn’t share in the pain of carrying this morphed child.

“Where’s the pain? What does it feel like?”

“Like...like my entire body is pulling towards one point and the tension...like my muscles will snap if they let go.” Having a creature inside of her with the power that their child did had required extra care and attention on their part and on the part of the medical team Michael had brought to the Sanctuary with the sole purpose of looking after his wife and future daughter.   

“Where?” His hand was already smoothing over her belly in the hopes of calming his daughter and getting her to release whatever grasp she currently had on her mother. 

“Almost the entire underside,” Penelope spoke through gritted teeth. Michael moved to the spot with ease and began to speak to his daughter through his mind.  _ Little one, I am so proud of how strong you are and so happy you wish to show your accomplishments to your mother and I but it is currently causing her some discomfort. _ When he heard his wife let out a deep sigh and saw her sink into the sheets with exhaustion, he knew the pain had lifted.

“There. They just wanted to show us that they had learned something new.”

“It’s their second completed Wonder. Am I going to have to suffer five times over by the time they finish them?” Michael moved from his spot near her belly to look her in the eyes.

“You know I will do everything in my power to make sure your suffering, if it happens at all, is not prolonged. I will never leave your side if that is what it takes.” Her thumb traced the curve of his cheekbone as she smiled softly at him.

“I do not wish to be a burden. You have so much work to do and I...I can handle a little bit of pain. Promise.”

“Yes but you shouldn’t have to. An ethereal creature such as yourself should only experience the highest of pleasures and luxuries in life.” He rolled off the bed and moved towards his chest of clothing.

“What’re you doing?” she inquired, already missing the close proximity that they had just been enjoying.

“I got you a little gift. I was going to save it for when you gave birth but I can always get you something grander for that day.”

“I’ll only accept your gift if you let me see your butt before you give it to me.” Michael scoffed but began to pull down his trousers regardless. Penelope had always appreciated his body, spent hours worshipping it with her mouth and cunt, but had recently taken to the addicting view of his bum. Something about the firm yet supple flesh had struck a chord in her ever since she had gotten pregnant. 

“Happy?” he asked once they were around his ankles.

“Yes. Now keep them off.” 

“I wish you would toss around orders like this when you’re sitting on your throne. It’s a sexual fantasy of mine,” he revealed as he tossed his pants to the side and climbed back into bed.

“That is a time for listening to the grievances and ideas of your loyal followers, my love. Not for your sexual gratification.” Once Penelope had married Michael and accepted her role as the Queen of the Sanctuary, she had begun asking the locals if there was anything she could do to make their existence there better. She had been given so many wonderful ideas that she thought Michael should hear them as well. He had assured her that their happiness truly meant nothing to him and that should a rebellion of any sorts arise that he would be thrilled to squash it. Eventually, he had acquiesced to her vision of listening to what the inhabitants had to say and doing what they could to remedy their complaints. The campaign had ended with everyone in sight falling in love with his wife and the ground she walked on being worshipped. It was difficult for Michael not to snap whenever a loving gaze was directed her way or get possessive when the thoughts of others were broadcasted for him to hear.

“Well, after the baby, I think we should find some time for you to ride me in the throne room...On your knees begging me for help and the only way I’ll give it is if you do as I say.” He began to trace soft kisses down her neck.

“Michael...The gift,” she breathed as she felt her thighs beginning to squeeze together when a distant throbbing was beginning to form.

“Of course. Distracted myself.” He picked up the tiny box he had left on the nightstand and handed it to her like it was the most delicate thing in the world. Penelope sat up a little bit straighter as she took it from him. When she opened it, she revealed a raw ruby that was rough around the edges and placed on a gold band. “It was what I was originally going to propose to you with but you spoke so highly of diamonds that I tucked it away for a different occasion.” She handed him the box and then stuck out her left hand, her wedding rings removed because of the swelling her pregnancy had brought on.

“Propose to me again.” Penelope giggled at her own silly idea. Michael and her could be so serious sometimes, Michael deadly so, that it was nice to be a bit more lighthearted. He only ever would in the comfort of their own bedroom, not wishing for any members of the staff or people in the surrounding area to know the Antichrist had a heart or a sense of humor. 

“Penelope, Goddess of Hell and Prosperity, will you do me the absolute honor of being my wife and Queen? In that order?” She nodded like it was the first time and squealed with delight as the ring fit onto her finger.

“I love you so much, Michael Langdon, and I hope you always will remember that.”

“I keep that thought with me everyday,” he hummed as he brought his lips to press against hers. It was true. The love that Penelope gave him was what helped Michael get through his day without the darkest of thoughts invading his mind. He had spent so long not knowing what it felt like to have your love reciprocated but he did so now, a hundred times over. 

“Our baby is going to love you so much, too. Don’t think that I don’t sense the worry in you over that.” His relationship with his child was going to be a blank slate. They would not be born knowing of his parentage and his prophecy and his past. They would just know that he was their father. Their caretaker.

“I’m just nervous that I am going to somehow screw it up. I have a unique chance to present myself to them without any baggage, without anyone telling them about me before they even know me. That is a lot pressure to put on someone who has only known negative judgement his whole life.” Penelope leaned forward to kiss the center of his forehead. 

“Your nervousness means that you care. Which is a step in the right direction. I’m nervous too, I’ve never been a mother before. But we have each other, Michael, which means it will be okay because it always is when we are.” A little handprint seemed to protrude from her stomach at the words.

“Little one wants us to know that they are here too.” Penelope and Michael chuckled together.

“Already desiring to be the center of attention just like their papa.” He couldn’t even argue, just nodding in agreement. He was known to make an entrance. 

“I’ll do anything for our little family, Penelope. You two are all I need and I will do whatever it takes to keep this unit intact.” She used her thumb to trace the outline of his plump lips.

“Have you seen something, Michael? Something I should know about?” He had the look on his face he did when his father had bestowed a vision upon him and he hadn’t liked it. The images flashed before his eyes: her wrists bound by rope, her crying out for him in neverending darkness, her breath slowing to an almost stillness.

“Don’t let it worry you, my love. Like I said, nothing will ever happen to you. I’m taking care of everything.” Penelope was worried as his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes but she didn’t want to press him any further.

“Ok...Shall we get to bed then? Little one really tired me out today.” Michael nodded and used his magic so she was floating in the air, allowing him to pull down their sheets and blankets so they could get tucked in. His wife wiggled her way onto his chest as soon as they were safely under the blankets and let his heartbeat lull her to sleep. Letting himself be that happy in her presence today...he shouldn’t have done it. It was dangerous with everything he knew his father was about to throw at him to feel comfortable and content even for a moment. 

Michael kept his eyes open the entire night. Something was coming, was coming to take away his precious Penelope and his daughter, and he’d be damned if they succeeded. Hell may hath no fury like a women scorned but they hadn’t yet met Michael Langdon.


	14. Call On Me, I'll Carry You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael & Penelope rescue their daughter from Hell.

Penelope gathered her resolve the entire time it took for the carriage to reach their destination. Michael kept his fingers laced with hers in between their legs, his hand applying pressure to hers every few minutes to remind her that he was still there and they were doing this together. 

“Did your father give you anyway of identifying the soul he would exchange for Helena’s?”

“No. Just that we would know. I am assuming she will be a very powerful presence.”

“It does not matter. We are unstoppable with our combined powers and the desire for our daughter to be back in our arms.” Penelope wrapped her arms around her as though she was emphasizing the emptiness she felt.

“You will have our little Helena back in your arms soon, my love.” Michael was reconciled within himself that if this mission did not work, he would descend into Hell with his wife to visit their daughter. Even if it meant losing Penelope. She would rather die having seen her daughter one last time than live an unfulfilled life on the surface without Helena. In her memory, he would stay in Hell to watch after their daughter. He was hoping that everything would go according to plan in the building of his old school but Michael was never one to think that life was going to turn out in his favor. 

“You said this structure used to mean something to you?” Penelope asked as she peered out the window.

“It used to be a school for warlocks. I was here as a student for a little bit.” The horses came to a stop and Michael handed her a mask so they could at least play the part of Cooperative members here for a check in.

“The image of you as a little warlock student is very charming to me,” she giggled. He was happy to see her smiling for the first time in so long. “I bet you were the most handsome boy in school.”

“I wore a little bow tie and everything, Penny.”

“Oh when this is over Michael will you please show me?” How on earth could he deny her anything when she was looking at him like that?

“Promise. We’ll take a deep dive into my Hawthorne memories.” That delighted her enough that she quickly slid on the mask and was out of the carriage before he could even fathom the piece of his life he had just promised to expose to her. Michael had never talked to his wife about the witches and the murderous rampage he had gone on after them. Penelope knew of his life with Constance through her own magic but Michael had never filled in the blanks for her between then and when they met. Part of him had begun to pretend that the years without her had never happened. That his life had not truly begun until she was in it. As he flashed his badge to the security of the Outpost, he found that being inside this building was going to remind of a lot of past moments he had meant to forget.

Penelope was extremely aware that every single pair of eyes was trained on her husband like he was succulent fruit dangling precariously from a tree. She had never been confronted with lust for Michael outside of her own. They lived a very sheltered life at the Sanctuary. None of them seemed to be looking at her with the same intensity they using to regard him and she couldn’t deny that it was a slight blow to her ego. 

Michael had been insistent that they not be too affectionate towards each other during their time at the Outpost. He wanted to keep the illusion that he was a stone cold bureaucrat capable of anything with the power he had managed to amass. Michael was more than aware that one loving look from his wife or one hint of a touch would melt him into her willing servant. It wasn’t as threatening as he was aiming for.

So she stood to the side as he delivered his speech about massacre and dwindling supplies and pills and interviews. The entire time, she kept a watchful eye on the room to try and find the soul they were looking for. Even with the energy and power that she was drawing from Michael, Penelope was unable to find anything different about any of the souls in the room. They all seemed to be human. Her focus was snapped at the eager sounds of a man volunteering to be interviewed first. Her nose scrunching up in disgust at the blatant smell of his hot blooded arousal.

“He’s hoping you’ll make love to him,” Penelope stated sternly as she strolled into the room she was to share with Michael. He simply laughed.

“My love, I believe he wishes I’ll fuck him.” He smiled at the naivete of his wife when it came to carnal matters. She considered every time with Michael to be a physical representation of their love, regardless of how soft or rough it was. It was something that he truly adored about her. The way she took all matters of their relationship seriously and purely. 

“I didn’t think this would be so difficult. Not only were all of them thinking of different positions to contort their bodies into for you but not a single one have off any hint of magic within their soul.” Michael sighed and walked over to where she looking into the fire.

“I know this journey has been taxing on your soul, Penelope. I’m hoping my interviews were illuminate some of the hidden characteristics of the inhabitants.”

“You always have been good at locating and exposing the darkest corners within people.” Michael had even managed to find a dark corner within Penelope who had been created from pure light. It was a talent indeed.

“While they are here with me, it will give you one less set of prying eyes to go around the castle and search their private belongings.”

“That’s an invasion of privacy, Michael, I can’t do that!” Sometimes he forgot that his wife’s innocence was not an act and was an actual attribute of her personality and being. 

“Then roam around and see what you can find without actively searching. Is that a suitable compromise?” Michael had learned during his research in anticipation of Penelope’s arrival that a large part of any relationship was compromise. He was proud of himself for being able to do so.

“Yes. I can do that.” He placed the softest of kisses to the top of his head, wrapping his arms around her when her head slid to be nestled under his chin. “I missed you today.” It had been hard for Penelope to spend the entire day pretending Michael meant nothing to her. It was exhausting to survive a day without his touch.

“I missed you too, my love. It will all be over soon.”

 

\----

 

Penelope found herself in the library more often than not. Seeing as it had once been a school for young warlocks, there were many books to read about spells and magic she had never heard of before. Nothing thrilled her more than learning something new. Michael had told her he was interviewing that nasty Venable woman today. Penelope had free reign of the place since she didn’t have to worry about running into the tightly-wound woman with a penchant of forcing people to get into trouble for the thrill of it. 

“It is nice to see someone else enjoying the library around here.” Penelope looked up to see the dark-skinned girl that had caught her eye during the initial introduction of her and Michael. It was the way she looked at the other boy her age, like they were in love. It made Penelope so happy to know that love was still flourishing in the new world that Michael had created.

“Do not many people read in this Outpost?”

“They are more concerned with complaining and trying to not get in trouble with Venable.” She smiled as the other girl chuckled.

“Well she is in her interview with Langdon right now so I think you will be in the clear for a little bit.” Penelope gestured for the girl to sit with her on the couch. “May I ask you a personal question?”

“Do I have a choice?” 

“Well, yes. You can choose not to answer. Are you not in control of your own devices?” Penelope was concerned that this girl had been forced to give up control of her own thought and being. She’d have to have a word with Michael about the way this new world was being run if people had lost all autonomy over themselves. “That boy, you were looking at him so softly the other day. Is there something between you two?” The blush and scoff answered her question before the girl could even speak.

“We can’t...even if there was. Venable has made sex punishable by death.” That perturbed Penelope greatly. How were they to remake the world in her husband’s image if they could not populate it? This was another thing she would have to talk to Michael about.

“That seems odd to me. I do not remember that being part of the rules Langdon created.” She watched as a light when off in the girls eyes.

“Really? So Venable made them up?”

“It would seem she has made this place over in her image which it was not her place to do so.” A threat to Michael’s power was a threat to their ability to find who they were looking for and getting their daughter back. Penelope didn’t think she could stomach these realizations alone for a mere moment longer. “If you’ll excuse me.” She left the library quickly and made her way up the stairs to where her and Michael were staying. When she opened the door, she was perturbed by what she saw. Venable had her dress open and Michael was gently stroking his hand down the length of her back. Before she was noticed, she closed it slightly so she could watch the scene unfold from the hallway.

“Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Does it bring you pain?”

“Yes.” Her stomach clenched as Michael moved to stand in front of her and was close enough to the woman to touch her nose with his. That was their special gesture, she thought. He was touching this woman in ways he had promised he had only touched her. “Do I pass?”

“No,” Penelope spoke with venom laced through her voice as she entered into the room. The fire in the room seemed to gain new life as her angered presence came into the space. Michael could see the tears beginning to track down her face and knew something was wrong. 

“Miss Venable, your interview is complete.” Penelope was shaking with embarrassment as she watched the woman scurry out of the room. “What on earth was that?”

“You have the nerve to speak to me with that tone? I’ve been alone all day listening to the way that woman suppresses love and affection and individuality and I come here to see you touching her skin so intimately and...rubbing noses in a way I thought was special to us.” He was across the room and by her side in a matter of moments. “Have you been lying to me? Are all the things we’ve done together, do together, really not that special at all?” Penelope had never been in a romantic relationship before Michael and perhaps she had misinterpreted the situation. Perhaps he had pulled the wool over her eyes the way he was born to do. 

“No, no, no. I do not want you to think that. The way I find those dark places within these people is by playing on their vulnerabilities. Hers is that due to her disability, no one will ever find her desirable. I have to pretend I do.”

“You looked like you were doing a good job,” she muttered as she felt the anger slowly leaving her body with every second Michael was caressing her cheeks and rubbing his nose against hers.

“I am sorry if you feel as though I disrespected you as my wife. It was never my intention nor will it ever be. You mean everything to me. I would never want to jeopardize our love.”

“I think being away from you today allowed some darkness to enter my thoughts. I am sorry for my outburst.” He kissed her, both of them accepting the others apology. “Now, we must discuss all the ways Miss Venable has ruined this Outpost.”

 

\----

 

“Thank you so much for intervening with Venable. She said it was you who stopped her from killing us.” Penelope had found Emily the library again that day, thankful to see that her pulling of rank had worked over Venable. It had pained her heart to hear the that two kids in love were being stopped from expressing that with each other.

“Love in this barren world is what keeps my hope alive, Emily. I was happy to help you and Timothy be able to express it.” Upon hearing their screams the night before, Penelope had stepped in to stop the execution. Michael had thoroughly enjoyed watching his wife exercise her power. After her bout with insecurity yesterday, her newfound confidence she felt in the power of her position was exceedingly attractive. “I hope you two can find happiness here, I really do.” Their peaceful reading was then interrupted as Michael came storming into the library. He looked pale and sweaty with cracks in his skin leading Penelope to believe he had recently been inhabited by his demon form.

“We need to talk.”

 

\----

 

“Michael, we know she is the one! Your father already told us what to do! Why is it that we must confer with him about it?” Penelope was shivering in the secluded room Michael had led her to for the performance of a ritual. 

“She is different, Penelope. The magic within her is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Different from me, different fro you, from Helena, from that entire coven of witches.” His fingers deftly worked through the laces of her corset until her black and gold gown fell to a heap around her feet.

“You’ve met a coven?” Penelope had only read about the groupings of witches. She never anticipated she would be welcome in one or feel like she belonged so she never sought one out though the sense of sisterhood intrigued her immensely.

“Met and destroyed, yes. Or at least I thought.” The admission made her mind conjure up so many questions but also some reservations. How much of Michael’s life had she not been privy to? 

“Michael…” It all felt so rushed and hasty. There was little Penelope hated more than going into something without a plan. “I am desperate to have Helena back as well, and as quickly as possible, but can we please take a moment to breathe?” She watched him throw his shirt to the side and light a multitude of candles around the room without even a glance.

“Something has been awoken in my soul by the presence of this witch, Penelope. I need my father’s guidance to harness it and use it to meet our goals.” As Michael bent down to grab his jewel-encrusted blade, she rested her hands on his shoulders.

“Do not let the darkness of your father and the power he promises consume you, my love.”

“That is why you are here. You keep me tethered to this realm. My love for you would never let me slip away from you.” The ritual began as it usually did with their blood forming a pentagram and mingling together until the power was simmering all around them. The power felt erotic running through her veins and urged her to climb into Michael’s lap and claim him. So she did. “Yes, my pet,” Michael murmured darkly as his red hands ran all over her body, reveling in the mark of his that was left behind on her porcelain skin.

“Please,” she whimpered against his lips as his teeth sunk into her bottom lip and drew blood. There was no way for her to form the words to explain all the deliciously hot things she wanted him to do to her. When Michael had first exposed Penelope to Satan, she had been scared and apprehensive. It wasn’t that she no longer was those things but now she had embraced the sexual passion that came with letting the darkness and the fire into her soul during their rituals.

He slid his hands up her back so he could support her as he lowered her down to the blood-slicked floor. His traced its way down to her thighs, licking the blood of her skin like it was a cold dessert on the hottest summer day. He dove between her legs with the same amount of enthusiasm. Lips enclosed around her bud, sucking and pulling and prodding until he could sense every muscle in her body coiling into a red hot knot with one flick to the exact right spot making that knot snap, her body instinctively rolling towards his as he was the source of her pleasure.

“Is that what you were asking for?” he asked with a sadistic smirk on his face.

“Yes. Thank you,” she breathed. As his wife lay there panting, Michael sat back on his knees and used the power of her racing heart to strengthen the connection to his father. His eyes glazed over black as Penelope watched and heard his voice echo eerily throughout the room. She knew he had gained clarity at the powerful smile on his face and the way his hand caressed his chin.

“My love, she will be with us soon.”

 

\----

 

Penelope felt her own world spin at a dizzying pace as the inhabitants of the Outpost all fell to the poisoned apples down below her. For his part, Michael remained typing at his laptop.

“Will Helena just appear? Do you have to go and get her?”

“Relax, my lovely wife. The deed is currently being done. It could take a little longer for my father to claim her soul and make the official trade. Everything is going as planned.”

“I just can’t help the sense of unease that is upon me, Michael. Like a greater power is on the horizon.” She walked over to him in the hopes that being closer to him would help to calm her nerves and ease her fears. Her hands had just slid around him when the door to their room was opened.

“Ladies, I’m a little busy finalizing my selections.” Penelope quickly withdrew her arms from her husband and went back to her dutiful spot to his side.

“We’re making the selections now. And neither of you have made the cut.” She simply looked bewildered at Venable. This poor woman. If only she knew the power she was facing. When a gun was pointed at the two of them, she felt no worry in her bones. It was sad that they thought their plan could work. That they could kill Michael or her. And when Venable met her end at the malice of that pistol, Penelope barely even flinched.

“I don’t know why I did that! I was always so loyal to her!”

“It’s okay. You were just following commands like you were programmed to do. My commands.” That was then when she was taken by surprise.

“Your commands?” she questioned. This journey was leading her to understand that she knew much less about Michael than she originally thought she did. He held a hand up to Penelope as though she would have to wait her turn for an explanation, instead turning to the woman and recounting a story of needing someone by his side and creating a version of the one person who had cared for him, never betrayed him. It was then that he extended his hand towards his wife.

“And now I have you, Penelope. I have you both and our little Helena who will be joining us shortly. I had underestimated the power of love in my life but thanks to you I have it. I don’t need anything else when I have you.” All her anger and confusion at having been left in the dark slipped away for a moment as she watched the tears roll down his cheeks. “I love you so much. I will forever.”

“Our love runs eternal,” she breathed as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was a jolt in her body as though she had been executed that ruined the moment. “Something...something has been awakened.”

“I think I know exactly what cockroaches have decided to unearth themselves.”

 

\----

 

“How can you defeat me when I’ve already won?” There was a familiarity between Michael and the women that stood by the fire. They kept looking at her with confusion and it was beginning to become unsettling for Penelope.

“You do not have to stand with him on this fruitless task. There is a power within you that I have never seen before. More powerful than anything I have ever sensed.” That remark had been directed towards her. Of course they had never met a goddess before. If they had, Penelope was certain that she would be the one in charge.

“My place will always be by Michael’s side. He is my family.” Part of Michael had almost been anticipating her defection to the other side. Knowing she wouldn’t leave him even in this time of confrontation made him feel even stronger. 

“Surrender to me and I will offer you all a seat at the table by my side.” One of the witches, Dinah, stepped forward announced that she would be joining Michael’s side.

“A fight is brewing Michael. We need to stay focused. That grey is our mission. For the sake of our daughter.” She held onto him tightly as the other Voodoo Queen appeared and sliced the throat of Dinah. 

“Their goal is to kill me, Penelope. You have to promise that no matter what happens to me, you will complete our mission and rescue our daughter.”

“I do not wish to live without you, Michael,” she pleaded. It sounded as though he was preparing to sacrifice himself. “We can come out on the other side of this together.”

“You have such strength and light within you, my love. Let me do what I can to protect that.” He was talking about the unspoken fact between them. That in order to get their daughter and make it back to their home, every witch would have to be killed. Michael knew the toll that would take on his wife. Knew she would struggle to find the strength to complete the act. He wanted, needed, to protect her from that fate. He made a signal to Miss Mead who produced a machine gun from her arm but before she could fire, she began to spark and then she exploded. It propelled Michael and Penelope over the edge, landing on the floor with a brute impact. It took him a moment to catch his breath and when he looked to his wife to make sure that she was okay, he was met with her still form. There was blood trickling from the back of her head where it had split open on impact. His shaking hands caressed her cheek and he could feel that she was still alive but temporarily unconscious so her healing could kick in. He didn’t even try to stop the tears from flowing down his face at the image of her wounded and limp on the floor. “You seek to take away one of the only people I care for? Have you not taken enough from me during my life?” In his distraction, he did not notice one of the blonde witches grabbing the disengaged weapon from the remnants of Miss Mead. Michael was forced to shut down his emotions in order to pull away from Penelope and stand to face the witches. Everything was telling him to keep her safe. Protect her. Comfort her. Cradle her close to his chest until she awoke again.

“Die, bitch!” He thought of Penelope and Helena as the bullets began to tear through his body. He knew he wouldn’t be dead for long but it was still moments being taken away from his aim of saving his daughter. Moments he couldn’t protect Penelope in her current position of vulnerability. Temporarily transmitted to Hell, he decided to pay his daughter a quick visit. 

“Hi my sweet angel,” he cooed as she came into his line of sight. She dropped the stuffed toy she was playing with and stood up in the crib. “I am so sorry it has been so long since I have come to visit you. Mama and I are going to have you home so, so soon. I promise. We are going to be a family again.” He cupped the back of her head and pressed a long kiss to her curls.

“Dada!” A sob ripped through his body at the sound of her first word. At the idea that even after letting her down in the most colossal way possible, it was him she was calling for.

“Oh, peanut. Dada is here.”

 

\----

 

Penelope felt the life seep back into her body slowly. The only lingering effect of something having happened was a dull pain in the back of her head.

“Michael?” His body was bloodied and slumped against the wall, his designer clothes torn apart by the bullets the witch had pumped into his body. She heard the sound of a gun being reloaded and raised her hand in anticipation. As soon as the witch turned to continue her stalling tactic, Penelope closed her fist and the girls head exploded. “That was for trying to kill my husband.” Her focus on healing Michael kept the guilt of killing the witch from entering her mind as she ran over to his form. She knew he would heal his wounds on his own time but she knew her influence could speed up the process. With both her hands on his heart, she watched the blood pull back from where it had puddled and reabsorb into his body. He began to blink and then roll his neck.

“You do that?” he asked as his eyes found the headless body on the floor.

“Yes. I did. Her killing of you angered me.”

“My innocent little wife perhaps isn’t so,” he smiled as he stood and reached for her hand in order to help her up. “Before we go upstairs to continue this fun, while I was temporarily decommission, I visited Helena.”

“Yes? How is she? Did you tell her she will be back with us soon?”

“She has learned her first word while she was down there. She saw me and called for ‘dada.’”

“Oh, my heart. How I miss her so.” Michael pulled her into his chest so she could steady herself. Penelope just needed a moment to let this new milestone sink in. The notion that her daughter was growing and developing without her being able to witness it.

“Come. We still must get that witch.” They laced their fingers together and began their ascent of the stairs. When they reached the top, they saw the new Voodoo Queen spreading powder and mumbling words. “Do you really think that will stop us?” She barely got a chance to respond as Michael broke through the barrier easily and thrust his hand into her chest.

“Die!” Penelope grunted as she felt a knife go through her back and poke out the front of her black bodice. 

“You dare harm a hair on her head?” He removed his hand from the witch’s chest to reveal her heart in it. He offered it first to Penelope who looked at him in confusion. “The healing properties.” Trusting him and his judgement, she took a bite of the heart and moaned at the warmth that spread through her. Michael pulled the knife from her back and tossed it to the side before taking his own bite from the heart. Licking his lips, he raised his hand and twisted his fingers, the blonde girls neck following the motion.

“Do I have blood on my face?”

“Yes. Keep it.” He clasped her face between his hand and kissed her hungrily. “If we weren’t in a time crunch I would ravish you right here.”

“There will be plenty of time for that later.” They heard the sounds of women arguing from down the hall, the Supreme and her red-headed minion leaving a room. “You follow after them. I can feel what her demise means to you. I will take care of the grey.” He kissed her again before they walked forward, Penelope entering the room with the bathtub and Michael continuing onward. The grey seemed weak in the tub as she clutched a few locks of Michael’s hair in her hand. Penelope waved her hands through the air as a way to harness before using it to lift the girl from the tub. 

“I’ll be taking those.” Her fingers found her husbands hair and plucked it from her grasp. The silky strands were not meant to be used for harmful purposes. Penelope took a deep breath as she readied herself for the task that now came next. Closing her eyes, she thought of her daughter. Of her giggles. Of how warm she was when she first woke and snuggled against her. Of the softness in Michael’s eyes when he looked at her. She felt the power building in her palms, wrapping around her arms and climbing until she was lifted off the ground and bathed in gold. She heard a scream come from down the hall and knew that meant Michael had successfully disposed of the current Supreme. Penelope had to strike now before the power was transferred to the grey and the task became harder. She threw her hands forward and watched as the golden light beamed into the girls chest, her screams were silent as her exterior began to crack and the light glowed from within her. In a final burst of light she disintegrated into ash. The force pushed Penelope back until she hit the railing and fell forward into a heap.

“Penelope!” Michael had been in awe of the display of power she had just put on. He had never seen her do anything of the sorts. She seemed groggy as he helped her sit up, holding her against his chest and placing feather-light kisses into her hair. “You were wonderful. So beautiful and powerful and ethereal. I did not know you had such power within you.”

“I believe my maternal nature helped me access it. I have only ever used it once before...Do you feel fulfilled, Michael? I could sense the desire within you to end the life of that witch.”

“She had taken the original Mead from me. I felt as though her own life was the least I could take in return.”

“Michael, this trip, I’ve learned that there is so much about your past that I do not know. I would like to.”

“I know. It’s because I’ve wanted to start a new life with you and pretend all my past pain was not important or hadn’t happened. It was wrong of me to do so. I am sorry.”

“It is okay I-” Her words died on her lips as a squeal came from down below them.

“Dada!” They looked to see Helena, their Helena, sitting on the ground beneath them and looking up with glee.

“Oh my sweet child!” Penelope untangled herself from her husband and sprinted down the stairs with a newfound energy. She gathered Helena into her arms while she sobbed, pressing desperate kisses to her face. “You are here, you are back. You are really here.” Helena accepted all of her mother’s love with a smile and offered her stuffed elephant to her to get a kiss hello as well.

“We are a family again,” Michael whispered as he joined them and pulled them both into his arms. There was blood and carnage around them but he felt pure. The death of the witches was a blank slate for him. All that mattered now was his wife and his child.

“Yes. Now let’s get home.”

  
  
  



	15. Butterflies In My Stomach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Profiles of the Langdon children

Isaac Alexander Langdon

 

Michael was barely listening as he strolled around the Sanctuary with members of the Cooperative’s security team. Ae time dragged on, outsiders were becoming more and more bold with their attempts to break down the defense of the Sanctuary. Security was one of the most important things for a leader to provide to his people. Michael intended to continue doing so.

“Last week we took out that entire band of cannibals. They had absorbed too much radiation to even be brought past the perimeter gate.” The voices of his colleagues were muffled by the gas masks. Only the air within the gates was pure enough for human consumption. Michael had long ago dropped the pretense that he needed to wear a mask. He wandered and breathed as he pleased.

“Do we have plenty of scouts? Are their vantage points high enough?” Michael had never prepared himself for ruling all these little details when he was planning his new world. He had just brushed it all aside and vowed to just kill anyone that crossed a certain threshold. He thinks, or knows, that it was Penelope and Helena that him now focused on safety. They were the lights of his life and he would do absolutely anything to protect them. Both of them had each been taken away from him at some point. A circumstance he never wished to repeat.

“Yes, sir, they can spot our targets miles and miles away. They’ve been extremely effective.”

“That’s-” Michael paused when he heard the sound of a baby wailing. A few years ago he would have been confused by the sound and thought it was an animal. Being a father had taught him many things. And that was the sound of a child. 

He picked up the pace as he walked towards the cry and was suddenly overcome with the notion of how he would handle looking at an ill child. An innocent life. A pure soul. Surely not someone he had meant to harm during his creation of the new world.

“Has someone abandoned a child at our doorstep?” The confused murmur was of no concern to Michael has he bent in front of the wicker basket. A bundle of ripped cloth was peeled away to reveal a squirming newborn.

“My gosh. The child can’t be more than a couple months old!” 

“Can you scan him for radiation?” The group quieted at Michael’s question. “Is there a problem?”

“My Lord, it is not safe to bring him into the Sanctuary. Nevermind the potential radiation, he is a child born post-cleanse out in the elements. We do not know what will become of him as he ages.”

“That will be for me to worry about.” In an odd way, Michael saw himself in the little baby’s eyes. He was abandoned. Left behind to survive by himself without really knowing how. The decisions had all been made for him. He had no say. “I will take him into my home for a final assessment.” Michael gathered the baby into the crook of his arm, holding him tight against his chest the way Helena had liked when she was little, and cooed to him gently. He was letting him know that everything would be alright. He was safe now.

Penelope looked towards the door with a smile when she heard it shut. Her husband had been gone all day and she had missed him terribly. When it was just them and their daughter, it was easy to forget that he had the entirety of the Sanctuary to look after. Their family cocooned themselves so nicely and she wished it could be as such every moment of the day.

“Penelope? Are you in the living room?”

“Yes, my love, anxiously awaiting your presence.”

“Well, I have a sort of surprise for you.” He walked towards the fireplace where his wife sat and the baby in his arms came into view.

“Oh gosh! A little one!” Penelope smiled brighter than the sun as she pulled the child from Michael’s arms and wrapped him in her own. “Where did you get this precious little thing?” She was thinking that he perhaps may have been a new, motherless addition to the nursery or the son of a high-ranking Cooperative officer and Michael had brought him to visit and quell her baby fever.

“He was left abandoned by the front gate. Found him on our walk this morning.” He watched her frown and tap the baby’s nose with her finger. 

“That is such a shame. I’m sure his mother believed she was doing what was best for him.” Penelope had been separated from Helena only once in her life and it had almost caused her ruin. She could never imagine willingly having to go through that but also could imagine all the different possibilities that might have led to the child being left at the Sanctuary entrance. “Is he to spend the night? Go to the nursery in the morning?” The idea thrilled her. She had been trying to find the right time to ask Michael about having another baby. He had just been so busy that it hadn’t yet come up.

“It was odd but out there by the gate, I felt a connection to him. I saw myself in him. An abandoned little boy. Something inside me is saying that I belong to him. That I was meant to find him. That he’s not meant to be put in the nursery but to live with us here. As our son.” His wife smiled ever so softly as she stepped as close to Michael as she could with the baby in her arms.

“Michael Langdon that is the most wonderful, sweetest thing I may have ever heard.” She puckered her lips and he obliged her with a kiss. 

“What do you think? Do we have room in our home and our hearts for this little one?” Penelope kissed the forehead of the child and breathed in his distinct newborn smell with a smile.

“There is no calling I’d rather answer than the one of being his mother.”

 

Ophelia Evangeline Langdon

 

“Mommy can I help?” Penelope looked at her daughter, who was a mere silhouette against the backdrop of the sun, and held her hand out to her.

“Of course, my pumpkin.” Helena was in school and Isaac had joined a group of boys who were going to play a game on one of the fields. It had left Penelope with the whole day to spend with Ophelia. 

The youngest Langdon was conceived only a year after Isaac had been adopted into their home. Penelope loved being a mother to Isaac, he was her son and no one would ever be able to convince her otherwise, but after indulging in a sip too much of wine one night she had alerted Michael that her womb felt a little empty. Promptly, the problem had been solved right there on the table. 

She took after Penelope in more ways than even Helena had. While the eldest Langdon showed some abilities that also showed themself in Michael, Ophelia had nothing but light and warmth within her. She was almost better with the garden than her own mother. 

“How, mama?” Penelope sat up straighter and beckoned for her daughter to sit in front of her. 

“We are weeding. These are bad plants,” she plucked one and handed it to her daughter, “it steals the sunlight and water from the other plants and then they die.” Penelope thinks there might be many useful lessons in a discussion on weeds with her daughter.

“This looks like one!” she extended one chubby finger towards what indeed was a weed.

“It is! Go ahead and pull it...make sure you get the roots so it can never grow back.” Ophelia grunted with effort but yanked the weed and its roots cleanly from the soil. “Perfect, my love!” Penelope nestled a kiss against her cheek, her daughter squealing with delight at both her mother’s affection and the joy of saving the plants.

“Let’s do more, Mommy!”

 

Fiona Vivienne Langdon & Freya Rose Langdon

 

When Michael heard that he was to be a father to twins, he cackled with the irony. Had lost his breath from doubling over in hysterics that his mother’s curse was going to be his blessing. He even found it fitting to name one after his late mother. But also he had done so at the urging of his wife. Penelope had witnessed a particularly violent outburst by Michael in the throne room one day and it had scared her to her core. Sometimes she forgot the true nature of her husband and it was startling to be reminded of it by his actions. She had begged Michael to find a way to make peace with his past. Find a way to heal and move forward as a loving father and husband first, ruler of the world second.

The birth of the twins had been the perfect occasion for that. He had first been nervous that Penelope would suffer the same fate as his biological mother and when she came out stronger than she had gone in, he figured it was a sign from his father that he was being gifted a clean slate. The chance to rewrite his own childhood. Of course he had already begun to do so with his three older children but having twins was too uncanny to not view differently. 

Funnily enough, the twins did not seem to possess any powers the way their parents or biological siblings did. No spoons randomly levitated at breakfast, no baby disappeared in thin air from their high chair and no animals came to the window answering their calls. They seemed to be normal, human children. 

It worried Michael and Penelope that something had gone wrong for their powers and abilities to not be passed on in the same manner they previously had been but they found they should have been careful with what they wished for. 

What the twins lacked in magical ability, they made up for in beauty. Every person who met them was stunned in silence over the grace of Fiona and Freya. It brought men and women to their knees. Made the most powerful of people tremble. They could get anyone to do anything they want.

It had scared Michael at first. This was a sort of power and it was one they absolutely had no control over. One they could never have control over because it was entirely reliant on the reactions of those around them. It cause a constant debate within him if he should keep them sheltered away to protect them. Penelope talked him out of such nonsense quickly. They were meant to be wild and free. Michael didn’t want to think that she was referencing herself on some level. Taken from the open air by him 

It seems the twins were born at the right time in both their lives to fix the wrongs of the past and set new paths forward.

 

James Benjamin Langdon

 

Michael’s first biological son was born in a ball of fire. He was the hardest baby for Penelope to birthe and it had worried him, even more so than when Helena arrived, that he might lose her.

The reasoning was revealed when his father visited him later that night. It had been many moons since Michael had spoken to his father, his mission complete and his focus on being a father and a husband rather than a son. He was rocking James after having woken up himself when a shadow loomed on the wall and a voice slithered inside his head.

_ “He is your rightful heir. Take care of him. He will have the throne of the world.” _ It had horrified Michael. He looked down at his sleeping son, incredibly at peace and unaware of what was apparently waiting for him.

“I promise I will never abandon you,” he whispered against his son’s forehead. 

When he lied in bed with Penelope the next night he told her of the visit he had gotten from his father. Of the news he had passed on.

“There has to be a way to balance the forces within him. To have him capable of leading the Sanctuary but without granting any power to the darkness.” She hadn’t been able to help Michael resist his urges as a child but she would be damned if the same fate befell one of her most precious creations.

 

Oliver Finn Langdon

 

Penelope had made many friends throughout her time as Queen of the Sanctuary. She got together with many fellow mothers and had taken the time to start a farmer’s market and school for the children to attend. Her closest companion was a woman by the name of Ariana. She was relatively new to the Sanctuary, having been brought from an overseas Outpost, and was very small and very shy. Penelope had taken her under her wing instantly. The goddess within her had sense her purity of soul and her loneliness. 

She bonded with her children just as quickly, helping Penelope keep all six of them in line and on task. She helped tend to the garden and groom the horses and milk the cows. It was on one of these busy days that she confided in Penelope her biggest secret.

“Before I was brought to the Sanctuary, I fell pregnant.”

“Oh, Ari that is such wonderful news! How far along are you?”

“I haven’t built up the nerve to visit the doctors here yet. I wanted to get a lay of the land before trusting any of the people here.” 

“I will go with you if that helps any. The precious being within you is probably perfectly strong and healthy though it can’t hurt to hear that from another source as well.” Penelope had been correct. The baby within her friend was perfectly strong and healthy. It was Ariana that hadn’t been. The birth of her son was her end. She held the child for a few moments as the doctors tried to stop the bleeding but it was no use. Penelope had watched the life drain from her friend’s eyes and had been powerless to do anything.

When she walked into her home with the child that night, Michael knew what must have happened to Ariana.

“My sweet darling,” he cooed as he rushed to embrace her. He pressed as close to her as he could with the baby cradled in her arms. She was trembling slightly from the exhaustion and sadness of the day.

“Michael...the baby…” She couldn’t find the right words to say to him. To ask him to welcome this little boy into their home and raise him as their own.Thankfully, she didn’t have to. Michael and her were bound at the soul which meant he knew what she needed before she even did.

“He will be raised as our son,” he murmured as he stroked his hand over the child’s hair. Penelope nodded her thanks to him tearfully before sagging against his chest and succumbing to the day.

 

Grace Ella Langdon

 

Grace was the Langdon child most interested in her parents magical roots. Though Michael and Penelope had eradicated the New Orleans coven long ago, witches and other magic users still resided throughout the new world. Michael took them out when he could as he never could trust a witch. He also knew the power of combined forces and wanted to make sure the splintered groups never joined together to make a whole.

His eighth child came from one of these splintered groups that he slaughtered. He couldn’t find it even within himself to harm a child. She was a mere babbling baby when he and his raiders enacted their mission to destroy the group. Michael knew she possessed power the moment he touch her little hand. Knew that he had vowed to destroy all witches. But he couldn’t destroy such a perfect little angel.

“My Lord, if you place the child-”

“No. This one is not to die. I will return home with her.” The little baby was clearly a survivor. The type of soul that was resilient and strong. The type of soul that would fit perfectly into his family.

 

Everly Violet Langdon

 

“Has she disappeared again?” Michael had come down from getting dressed for his day to see all his children peacefully eating their breakfast at the table but his wife was nowhere to be found. 

“I thought she was just letting the dog out and then…” Michael grasped Penelope’s hand as she sighed deeply. “Maybe she is not meant to be in our family. Maybe I should stop trying so my heart stops breaking.” The toddler had been orphaned when a disease struck the newest members of the Sanctuary a little while back. All those that had been sick had since been eradicated but it had left a little wildling without parents.

“She is a little lost, my love. If the fields and forest help her feel whole, then I am sure we can learn to love her whilst she is in them.”

“She probably misses her parents. Her real family. Maybe I imagined my connection with her.” Michael reached down and intertwined his fingers with hers.

“I don’t think you did, my love. I think you are exactly the figure she needs to be her mother in life. To help her remember and love her old family while learning to fit in her new one.” He sensed that his wife was not going to leave her spot in the meadow until the wildling returned from wherever she had run off to. He figured his work could be put on hold for the day. His family needed him.

So they sat there until the sky began to dim with the setting of the sun, her acceptance of defeat on the tip of her tongue when a figure broke through the tree line. Penelope stood up slowly and watched as the girl approached her.

“I’m sorry for leaving,” the wildling whispered as she reached her.

“It is quite alright, little one. Would you like to come inside for some supper?”

“Please.” Penelope reached out her hand the little girl grasped onto it quickly. The girl reach her other hand out to Michael as a sign for him to take it and join them on their walk back to the castle for dinner. He held her hand gently and smiled as she led the way back to their home. Their family.

 

Charlie Henry Langdon

 

“He’s quite the little rascal, isn’t he?” Michael mused as Penelope snuggled against his chest. They were sat by the fire at a time of night where it was black outside and not a sound could be heard. The latest orphan from the Sanctuary, Charlie, was much too full of life to go to sleep. Penelope couldn’t deny him a thing. She couldn’t for any of her children.

“He’s oddly like you, my love. Doesn’t much like pants.” She smiled as she watched the little boy run naked in circles. It was so comforting to have a little one back in their household. It brought a levity to the bustling castle. When one child was crying over their parents being unfair or another upset the outdoor game day had been cancelled for rain, Charlie was always just happy to be with the people he was growing to love. He was the first successfully birthed synthetic child for Michael and the scientists at the Sanctuary. They had worked tirelessly to produce synthetic sperm and eggs, wombs having come along awhile ago, and Charlie had been the result. It was only right he join the Langdon family. Michael said he felt like his son anyways.

“Do you ever wonder what the future holds?” he whispered as his eyes got lost in the fire.

“I think it holds us, our children...watching them grow and having ten more.” She was smiling but Michael knew it wasn’t teasing or a joke. 

“I wish to use our immortality for the most passionate of lovemaking and you wish to use it for the product of such activity. What a wonderful pair we make.” Now her smile turned silly as she leaned in to kiss his lips softly.

“I love you, Michael Langdon. Thank you for giving me such a beautiful life.”

“I love you, Penelope Langdon. Thank you for letting me live it with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please send in any ideas or requests for scenes in future chapters!


End file.
